Miraad of Mirrors
by Danihelle Draklyn
Summary: (Miraad is dovah language for 'doorway') "The very fabric of time has been ripped apart. We must summon the Dragonborn. All of them." - Arngeir of the Greybeards. 'When Alduin falls, and the first Dovahkiin knows defeat; gather 'round the Jarl's Halls for out of time a dragon's heart beats.' Basically all of my diverse characters having adventures and trying to save time!


Miraad of Mirrors

A Skyrim Novel

(Miraad is dovah language for 'doorway')

"The very fabric of time has been ripped apart. We must summon the Dragonborn. All of them." - Arngeir of the Greybeards.

'When Alduin falls, and the first Dovahkiin knows defeat; gather 'round the Jarl's Halls for out of time a dragon's heart beats.'

Defeating Alduin & Miraak had consequences. Thrust together in a strange yet familiar Tamriel, many dragonborn come to answer the Greybeards call. The question is...will they overcome their vast differences & become the world's salvation... or tear it asunder?

**Introductions**

They all sat around the enormous table at High Hrothgar in Skyrim. Outside the snow hurled its cold fury and seeped in under the metal doors and windows. The air was drafty inside and occasionally a snow flake would drift by before becoming a victim to the heat and melting. The Greybeards milled about; making sure everyone was on their best behavior and had plenty of food and drink to prevent rioting. Never before in the history of anywhere had there been such a meeting before. At least 8 Dragonborn had showed up after the Greybeard's strange summoning 3 fortnights ago and more were expected to show up at least. The summoning had shook all of Skyrim, perhaps even further. The commanding voices of the Greybeard's pierced the mind of every man, woman and child. Some people had reported seeing portal like doorways magically appear out of nowhere, a strange figure stepping out, and both vanishing into the night.

Naturally the Nord showed up first, a true daughter of Skyrim for she had the blessing of both Talos and Lord Hircine. She was honorable, and bowed before the Greybeards in respect, exchanging friendly words with them. A beauty of her race, her wild, silken blonde hair poured over one shoulder and tumbled down like a waterfall. Her eyes were like the pale ice of Hjaalmarch and a blue swirl tattooed upon her right cheek. She wore primitive ancient Nord armor, and had an enormous war axe strapped to her back. It was the famed Wuuthrad axe, carried by the leader of the Companions in battle. She had became Harbinger, leader of the Companions after their previous leader had been slain by the Silver Hand. But like Kodlak the old Harbinger, she wanted to give up her werewolf blood and go to Sovernguarde when she died. Her name was Brii but her fellow wolf brethren had another name for her: Sivaas or the Beast.

After an Imperial raid on her small nord village in which she was the only survivor, she'd ran away as a teen to join the Stormcloaks. She ended up in Whiterun and decided to join the Companions. She discovered her love of war axes and quickly rose ranks within the Companions.

Then she found out what the Companions were _**really **_about...werewolves. Joining them hadn't been a poor decision either. She just had to be careful when and where she transformed. After becoming Harbinger, she decided to bring her new werewolf strength to her old dream of joining the Stormcloaks. Her hatred of Imperials and notorious destruction of Imperial camps got her noticed. Jarl Ulfric quickly found favor with her and soon she became his 2nd in command, equal to his brother-in-arms Galmar Stone-Fist. Soon she had won the war for them against the Imperials, making Ulfric High King of Skyrim. He was handsome enough, she supposed, but he had diminished a little in her eyes when she found out how he really was. Ulfric Stormcloak did not truly care about Skyrim. Ulfric cared about Ulfric. With such a good position in the government of Skyrim, Brii decided she could intervene if need be.

She traveled extensively, studying her Nord culture along the way. She purchased Ragnar's Retreat in Rorikstead from the local inn. It had been abandoned by a local horse thief. She adopted 2 girls, one from the orphanage in Riften, and another beggar girl selling flowers on the streets of Windhelm. She was raising them to be strong Nord maidens. When she'd roamed even to the farthest reaches of Half Moon Crag where a wild pack of werewolves lived and still not found a strong Nord male for a mate; it came as a total shock to her, when she returned to Jorvaskaar in Whiterun and Aela, her packmate, noticed her Amulet of Mara and expressed her interest as a mate. Brii was so taken aback she had to say yes. Occasionally they would share their bed with Mjoll the Lioness. They joined the Dawnguard, and lended her werewolf skills to hunting vampires. When the Graybeards summoned her, a portal opened up in front of her she didn't hesitate but rushed in. It seemed to lead to right where she had been, but she noticed immediately that this world although looked identical to hers, felt vastly different. Deciding it was the Graybeards doing, she dutifully answered their summons.

The Khajiit hesitated when she saw Brii seated at the table. Most Nords were racist, but Brii was not like most of her prejudiced kinsmen. The cat's green eyes swept this way and that, taking note of everything in the room, hungrily eyeing the valuables. She had the markings similar to that of a white tiger, and a silver and green armor that cut low to reveal her furred cleavage, and some of her stomach as well. A golden tiara embedded with emeralds encircled her head and her ears were 3 times longer than a normal Khajiits. A green cape swept over her back, as did a white crossbow equipped with glowing arrows. This was Ashira, Queen of Thieves. She could talk a guard out of his duty, out pay even the deep pocketed Maven Black-Briar, loved gardening and cooking, and could shoot your eye out from over 10 mammoth lengths away. Ashira had been taken as a cub from her homeland in Elseweyr. She was sold as a slave to the Thalmor, then given to a rich family in Cyrodil to serve when she ran away to Skyrim for better opportunity. Ashira soon found herself begging on the streets of Riften. She'd gotten good at lifting purses and valuables when Brynjolf noticed her and invited her to join the Thieves Guild. She rose quickly within the Guild and soon became its leader after saving the entire operation from a corrupt inside apple. She'd had to postpone her trip to Elseweyr and was not pleased about having to drop everything and meet with the Greybeards. Her fellow khajiit companion Inigo waited for her in Riften.

"Is that Jazbay Crostata? That is this one's favorite!" the cat swept by the nord, reaching for the sweet berried pastry, speaking in true Khajiit fashion, in the 3rd person. She swiped the pastry, went to the other side of the table, sat down and presumed to eat the treat. The Nord furrowed her brow, and that's when she noticed something missing, her own moonstone sapphire tiara!

"Give it back you sneak thief! I'll have you know that tiara was made with special dwemer stones using a specific dwarven technique -" she bellowed at the cat. The cat licked her paws clean, smiled smugly, produced the stolen tiara from a hidden pocket with a flourish and tossed the tiara back to her. The Nord frowned and placed it back on her forehead just as the Orc walked in the room.

She was the most beautiful Orc they'd ever seen, if such a thing could be said about an Orc. Raven black dreadlocks gave her a fierce appearance; her green eyes contrasted by the terrifying black war paint around her eyes. Her skin shone a beautiful light jade, and her lips were full and red, with two tiny fangs jutting out from the bottom. She was heavily muscled and favored an enormous Warhammer that could have been the femur leg bone of a giant. She wore black ring armor and called herself Urda Gra-Lurn. She was a decedent of Lambug Gra-Lurn from the province of Morrowind. She didn't say much about herself except that she had united the 4 Orc Strongholds across Skyrim and was their Bloodkin.

The Dark Elf Raistla Telvanni entered next. She was the ArchMage of the College of Winterhold, and her mere presence commanded respect. One of the most powerful flame Destruction mage users in Skyrim, she also had the bonus of being a Vampire Lord. Dressed in Tribunal white robes with elegant gold trim, a magically enchanted crown glowed upon her forehead. Her skin was the color of pale grey ashes and her midnight black hair half hid her beautiful face. Her eyes had always been blood red, but after her transformation, they seemed to glow. Red patterned tattoos ran down the side of her face like bloody tear drops. She came to a stop at the end of the table, resting the Staff of Magus against it.

Raistla had belonged to the Telvanni mage family in Morrowind when her house had fallen on hard times after the Red Year when the volcano erupted. Having to flee to Skyrim, she'd had to start all over from scratch. She joined the College of Winterhold, studying the blood arts in secret. After the old archmage's untimely death, she rose as his successor. After returning to Solsteim in Morrowind and defeating Alduin and Miraak, she had grown bored and sought more power, so she'd decided to become a vampire lord. It had always been an interest for her. Doing so wasn't easy; she'd had to infiltrate the Dawnguard, return a Daughter of ColdHarbour (an original blood vampire) to her castle, and had been offered the Dark Gift. She accepted but her ambition didn't end there. After feeding on countless victims, plotting behind everyone's back & scheming; she finally grew powerful enough to defeat the residential Vampire Lord. The other vampires followed her guidance now, and she was still trying to figure out a way to safely block out the sun without wreaking havoc proportions on the world.

Of all things a Dremora showed up, claiming to be Dragonborn and had to prove it before they would let her in. Metal skulls barely covered her blackened skin in the most revealing armor yet. Her head was clean shaven except for a black Mohawk, and on her left side a black braided hung past her shoulder. She also had 2 sets of horns, one was short and curved up, the outside pair were longer and curved in towards her bald head. Her hellish eyes were fiery pits of hell rimmed by long luxurious eyelashes and she sported the traditional red markings on her face all of her race had complete with numerous piercings. After she showed them a shout none of them had ever seen that made every skill she had better, and she was bad ass at everything, they had no choice but to let her enter. She only wanted to be known as Dremora of the Deathbringer Clan, claiming her name couldn't be pronounced by mortal tongues. Dremora lounged in the chair, one booted foot propped up on another chair, eating a roasted goat leg and drinking any alcohol within reach. She was rude and lewd and obviously thought she was far above the mere mortals she walked among. Being of the Dremora Daedric race, she could back up her swagger. She was a Valynaz Dremora, the highest fighting rank. She drained a bottle of wine and with the flick of her wrist, sent it smashing into the fireplace nearby. Immediately a servant came forward to replace her drink. Most people would be passed out drunk by now, but it didn't seem to affect the Dremora much. She seemed to be enjoying herself, laughing loudly and leering insults. Everyone was so busy talking or arguing that no one noticed the 6th Dragonborn slip in amongst the shadows, but Dremora did. She gave no indication that she'd seen the shadowy figure, just nodded her head slightly to the stranger and kept sipping her tankard. She studied the figure out of the corner of her eye.

Definitely Argonian, if the tail was any indication. She could just make out a dark snout poking out from behind the black hood, but that was all the features she could make out. She was outfitted in a Dark Brotherhood Shadowscale's assassin outfit, a blood stained black tattered cloak with a black hand painted on it wrapped around her to keep out the cold held in place by a Black Sacrament brooch. She was such an expert at hiding even Dremora could barely make her out. The Argonian tipped her head slightly and the Dremora could barely make out 2 cold reptilian yellow eyes with slitted pupils winking in the light, and red scales brightly painted around the nostrils, brows and throat. Her features were still not completely visible. The assassin turned and winked at the Dremora, and stepped forward into the light. Several of them gasped and instinctively reached for their weapons. Arngeir, leader of the Greybeards came forward hurriedly and gestured towards the Argonian. "Everyone, this is Dragonborn TssVar, Listener for the Black Hand of the Dark Brotherhood." Some waved at her, others muttered greetings. TssVar said nothing, barely tipped her head in acknowledgement before retreating back into a shadowy chair with a tankard of argonian bloodwine and a honey nut treat. No one knew much about TssVar. She rarely spoke and her reputation painted her as a ruthless, blood thirsty killer. An overlooked Shadowscale, Sithis had always had his unholy eye on her. She had been sent to Skyrim by Sithis himself to make the Dark Brotherhood strong again. She had brought the Dark Brotherhood back from the brink of destruction, and had single handedly slain the Emperor of Skyrim and his entire crew on board as revenge for his treachery in trying to destroy her Faction. Nobody heard anything, and nobody saw anything. The port master stumbled upon deck when the boat never left the dock that night and discovered the macabre massacre. What nobody knew was sometimes she traveled with her Argonian husband Derkeethus, slaying together in the Night Mother's name. They'd had 2 Argonian children and TssVar had even adopted the human boy Aventus Arentino. He'd shown much promise as a Dark Brotherhood future member, even at such a tender young age.

She was the only one that could have posed any real threat to Dremora. Dremora wanted to squash her like a bug. Before she could do so, she heard a message from her Daedric Lord, Mehrunes Dagon. "Do not touch her! She is a favorite of Sithis!" he whispered forcefully in her mind. She had no choice but to obey, for she was his slave, he had created her kind to be so. Religion was as simple as it was complicated in Skyrim. You either worshipped the benevolent 9 Divine gods, or the malignant 9 Daedric Princes. Sithis was outside of this realm. He was neither part of them but everything was a part of him. He was death and beyond. Both the Divine and the Daedric feared him. It was rumored that Argonians worshiped Sithis by another name, believing he created their mystical living Hist tree, which created their very species and where every single living breathing Argonian came from.

The Khajiit Ashira was favored by the Daedric Prince Nocturnal, who granted blessings upon thieves and her special Nightingale warriors, whom Ashira was a member of. The cat was the most annoying of the group, always asking questions and being the most talkative, as was her nature as a feline. Whenever a purse or valuable came up missing, the cat was the first to be blamed of course, just because she was Khajiit **and **head of the Thieves Guild did not help her case. The cat stuffed herself with fruit pastries and made a show of licking her clawed paws clean. She teased the Nord sitting next to her who did nothing but try to ignore the feline and sip her mug of nord mead and growl lowly to herself from time to time.

The cat was going on about how she wished she could meet a famous chef called The Gourmet, when the Argonian leaned forward and threw back her hood. Everyone stared. Her scales were mostly dark grey to black, her nostrils, brows and forehead were painted bright red, and crimson streaks painted down the side of her face. Spikes protruded from around her head, some curved, most straight. Assortments jangled from them in decoration. Her serpentine eyes surveyed the cat and she grinned her sharp teeth and said in a raspy voice, "I slayed The Gourmet right before I murdered the Emperor. Did you know he was an Orc? Few did. I've got the signed copy of his personal cook book. Would you like to make an offer for it?" TssVar's eyes gleamed, waiting for the cats reaction. Everyone at the table froze. Ashira hesitated than smirked and replied smoothly, "Sure, if there are no bloodstains on it! This one doesn't pay good septims for damaged merchandise!" The Argonian pulled out a book from an unknown mysterious pouch and slid the book towards the cat. The Khajiit fished out some gold coins and flicked them towards the lizard. They bounced off the table and the Argonian caught them in one swift motion. She quickly replaced her hood and nodded satisfactory. "Pleasure doing business with you!" the cat hugged the book to herself before stowing it away.

The next Dragonborn appeared and she was not at all what anyone expected, even out of the Dremora. One of the rarest races of all, thought to be extinct, a Snow Elf! Before they became the monstrous blind creatures known as the Falmer lurking in Dwemer ruins, they used to be beautiful, elegant Snow Elves. They were thought to be extinct, but the Dawnguard had recently discovered 2 males, but was forced to exterminate one when he was discovered to be a vampire. There were no female Snow Elves that was known to live. Glacia Agarwen was the most gorgeous creature that was unknown to exist. Her skin was paler than the snow itself, her white hair sparkled and her eyes glittered like white diamonds. She wore a revealing yet elegant white robes with silvered trim. She was a potent magic user in the schools of Illusion and Alteration. She carried no weapon, but then, she didn't need one. Wherever she went, people could not take their eyes off her. She was beyond beautiful, rare exotic. She knew she was the last of her kind, and if she didn't find that male Snow Elf she'd heard about from the Dawnguard, her species would become extinct. Risen in secret all alone with the Vigilantes of Stindarr, they were always bringing her things from the outside world, and when she showed to be an apt pupil at magic, they brought her all sorts of books and studies from the College of Winterhold from their travels. Her secret mission was to restore her kind if possible, and she was seeking a hidden organization rumored to be adept at finding Snow Elves.

The latest to arrive was the wood elf. She was so drastically different than the others that she was noticed right away. While the other Dragonborn showed off their wealth with fancy armor, powerful weapons and spells, grand estates and manors, she had none of that. She lived alone in a tiny cabin she'd built herself on a small island in a river. She dressed in fur from animals she'd hunted herself. She sported a crown with antlers upon it. She wielded a woodcutters axe and simple foresworn bow. Her long auburn hair trailed down her back, the front gathered in two tiny braids on each side of her face, and her forested eyes surveyed the others before her. Olive green painted delicately across her lower lip and the corners of her hazel-colored eyes. She barely had a hundred septums to her name, and grew what she ate. Fahliil also loved animals.

The cat having fed her belly, reached inside a satchel and pulled out some green herb, rolled it in fermented elves ear, and proceeded to smoke it. "Hey, I know that smell from the Khajiit caravans!" Dremora sat up, interested. They haggled over price, and the Dremora got out a dragon bone pipe and puffed away. Smoke began to fill the air, and everyone ate their fill. Having finished an entire roasted ox head and leg by herself, Brii the Nord lit up her dragon bong which happened to be filled with nord mead to enhance the flavor. The Orc said the least out of the bunch and just fed her ravenous appetite. Although for an Orc, her manners were surprisingly gentle and actually better than that of the Khajiit's. Raistla sipped on what looked like a bottle of blood, and TssVar ate nothing. Glacia nibbled juniper berries and sugared water. Fahliil almost ate the jerky she had brought with her, but broke down and ate some bread and cheese, sneaking some into her pack for later. Usually she only ate and wore what she provided or earned for herself, but she figured not to waste another ones hospitality.

"Why did you come to Skyrim cat?" she asked Ashira lightly.

"Why for the septims of course!" Grinned the cat. "Why did you?"

"I wanted to spend the rest of my life camping alone living simply in the woods. Then I got sucked into this Dragonborn business." Fahliil complained. Arngeir stepped forward.

"Sometimes one should not fight one's Fate." Glacia commented.

"If you want to make the life you want, then you have to make a stand!" Fahliil stated.

"Being dragonborn was just a nice perk. I already excelled at the arcane arts and my undead status gives me a bonus!" Raistla argued her point. It seemed none of the elves were going to get along.

"Now, while we wait for the others to arrive, eat and drink your fill, get to know one another, for working together will be essential if we are to succeed." He gestured to all of them.

"Succeed at what? This one would like to know." Ashira raised her voice at him.

"Yea, you haven't exactly told us why we're all here!" Dremora chimed in. Arngeir sighed. Everyone quieted, readying themselves for the lecture.

"There are alternate realities to the same world. Each of you, are the Dragonborn from your reality. When Alduin was sent forward in time the first time, he created a rift in time and space. When you defeated him in each of your realities, you sent him back through time and space again; that rift was ripped, causing the realities to skew and overlap. Technically you are all so diverse that each of you **could** exist in the same world at the same time, but because you are all Dragonborn, your natural craving for one power or another causes you all to compete with each other. One world cannot handle this many Dragonborns. We must figure out how to separate the worlds and to get each of you back into your correct realities and seal the torn time. You have each defeated Alduin. You have each defeated Miraak the First Dragonborn. Whichever and whatever order you did to get these things accomplished, does not matter. Each of you have skills the other does not."

The Redguard chose that moment to enter. Her lovely complexion was dark, like the rest of her race, with just a hint of red. Her long black hair was braided and hung carelessly over one shoulder. She sported mercenary armor with a purple and gold Riften guard cloak stolen from the guard barracks. Deep purple ran down her eyes and mouth and her blind eyes practically glowed. She'd ran away from Hammerfell having been trapped in an arranged marriage. She'd taken up with the Thieves Guild and was one of the best pick pockets of all Skyrim.

"Hello everyone. I'm Rayna Al-Thir...and I technically haven't defeated Alduin yet...or the other guy, what was his name...Mirok?" She bowed lightly and grinned to herself.

"Miraak." Arngeir automatically corrected her, rubbing his temples with his fingers. Having this many Dragonborns in one place gave off too much chaotic energy, and it was giving him a massive headache.

"You mean to tell me you haven't even defeated Alduin yet!?" Dremora was shocked.

"Did you not hear him daedra spawn? He said it didn't matter what order or how we did it. Only our skills matter." The High Elf Arcana Direnni strode into the room. Golden eyes and yellow white hair as was the trademark of her race. A white skull tattoo upon her face contrasted with her dark yellow skin and she wore ebony mage robes. She was also a Necromancer and was equivalent in rank to the Archmage, only she never achieved the title. She was a secret agent of the Thalmor, sent undercover to spy on Imperial and Stormcloak alike and report their movements back to the Thalmor. She'd discovered she was dragonborn and had never reported back to the Thalmor so she supposed they'd reported her as M.I.A. She'd discovered her love of Conjuring and had been kicked out of the College of Winterhold for her dark experiments. Ancano was actually her distant cousin, which is why the two looked similar.

"I have not defeated Alduin yet and I am as every bit as powerful as any of you!" Arcana dared the dremora to say anything, lightning crackled the air lightly as everyone felt the rise in her power. Holy Akatosh was she a powerhouse for magic! Her species of elf regenerated magic faster than all the other races.

"Excuse me, but I have not defeated Alduin either." Fahliil admitted.

"Ok, a show of hands, how many of us has actually defeated Alduin?" Ashira asked. Brii lifted her hand, as did Raistla, TssVar, Dremora, and Ashira. "That makes 5 out of how many? How many dragonborns present?" Ashira called out.

"10, and I believe another one has just arrived." Arngeir announced. She introduced herself as Imperia Septim from Cyrodil. She was an Imperial of course. The daughter of an esteemed commander and very distant cousin to the Tiber Septim bloodline, she joined the Imperial Legion when she was just a teen. She'd requested to fight the war in Skyrim because she'd wanted to give glory to the empire and make her father proud of her. Serving directly under General Tullius, she proved an apt pupil at strategy and was close to winning the war for the Imperials in her world. She shifted her feet and tugged on her mouse brown hair, put up in a ponytail for easier combat. Her warm brown eyes were rimmed in rose colored shadow, and her pale lips frowned as she surveyed everyone. She was dressed in Imperial officer armor, having just come from her duty in the Imperial army and a red and gold imperial cape swept past her shoulders.

"Now that I have all of your attention, I suggest you split up into groups. If too many of you are in the same place at the same time for too long, the very fabric of time and space could rip apart from the forces of your power. We must figure out what and who is behind this and how to fix this before all worlds end everywhere." Arngeir advised them. "Some of you may find lodgings here of course, but I'm afraid it is not up to dragonborn standards. Indeed Parthunaax refuses to dwell here when there are more than 4 of you under one roof."

"Parthunaax is alive? But I thought I had slain him in service to the Blades!" Brii questioned.

"Perhaps in **your** world he is dead, but evidently here he is alive and well." Ashira commented curiously.

"I hadn't wanted to slay him. I only did so because I thought it was right to do at the time when I had just joined the Blades. Later I regretted my actions. I think I would like to go up to the top of the mountain and have a word with him." She smiled at the memory of the old dragon's love of speech. Ashira sensed all was not quite right with the nord, and let her be.

"As I was saying, I would advise no more than groups of 3 or 4." Arngeir told them, "Lest you tear the world asunder." He muttered grumpily under his breath. He hoped none of them would linger too long. "Now, who has room and space available for hideouts and regrouping?" Arngeir suggested. For a moment, none spoke, then the Argonian sighed.

"I cannot believe I am doing this...but...I might have a suitable place...if I dismiss my servants for a while." TssVar grimaced at the thought of actually offering one of her secret lairs.

"Sounds like fun. I'll tag along." Dremora stated, coming to stand beside TssVar. She wanted to keep an eye on the powerful silent assassin. Besides, she was the only one that had any interest to the dremora. TssVar did not look particularly pleased with the thought of having a daedra walk into one of her homes, but she didn't have much choice, for who was going to stop her? TssVar had defeated many dremora easily, but Dremora was no ordinary of her species.

"This one can search for clues in my homeland Elseweyr. The Nord can travel with this one if she wishes." Ashira offered.

"Good. It is settled. Raistla, Glacia, Arcana, as the 3 most powerful magic users in the group, might I suggest you put your heads together and come up with some brilliant spells?" Arngeir suggested. The 3 elves winced at the thought of having to work together.

"I have a hidden tower north of Markarth." Glacia spoke up. In the end it was decided that Ashira, Brii & Fahliil would travel to Elseweyr in search of answers, TssVar & Dremora would set up a base camp for the dragonborns hidden in Amethyst Falls. Raistla, Glacia & Arcana would practice their magic in Glacia's tower, and Urda, Rayna & Imperia would remain with the Greybeards until more action was decided upon. They were all gathering one last time at the entrance to discuss their plans with one another. Brii returned from her conversation with Parthunaax looking much refreshed. She loved the cold winter snow as it seeped into her bones and the wind singing to her soul.

"Looks like you are with this one, wolf woman." Ashira teased as Brii looked annoyed.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to put up with your pastry eating, thieving – "Brii growled low.

"What, you think this one **enjoys** the smell of wet dog?" Ashira could barely contain her laughter.

"Easy cat, I think I'm starting to see fur grow out of her ears." Fahliil shook her head.

"Peace, Nord; this one just likes to be playful." Ashira grinned.

"Now, you all know what you must do for now; send messages with a courier or messenger bird if you need to communicate." Arngeir said.

"Or by magic." Arcana studied the shade of her black nail polish and frowned slightly.

"You can do that?" Ashira gaped. "Can you teach this one?"

"Yes and no. One can do anything with enough magic power and raw talent, but I doubt even a lifetime of extensive study of the arcane arts would help you even heat a bowl of stew, you flea-ridden cat." Arcana looked smug.

"Thalmor bitch." the khajiit hissed at her but did nothing. She'd get her revenge on the high elf eventually. The Thalmor were currently enslaving the Khajiiti and Ashira had a lot of power to balance in the favor of her race.

"Have you noticed you all have something in common with each other?" Arngeir slyly asked. The dragonborns all stopped and looked at each other, wondering what in Oblivion they all had in common. "Every race is represented and...you are all female. It makes one wonder why all the dragonborn would be female." Arngeir pointed out as the dragonborn murmured among themselves. "Safe journeying to all you dragonborn!" Arngeir spoke, ushering them out the door. Most of them departed except for the remaining 3. Arngeir leaned against the monastery doors and sighed. He was surprised High Hrothgar was still standing after housing 11 dragonborns at once!

Everyone began readying themselves for their individual journeys. Each would have to undertake a great transformation if they were to unravel the mysteries they sought out and defeat the enemies they had acquired.

Preparation

First they traveled to Whiterun for supplies. Brii dragged them to Jorrvaskaar to spread word to her fellow Companions. The cat did not like it, the entire place smelled of dog.

Brii was a Nord, and wished to go to her ancestors' afterlife, the spirit world of Sovernguarde, where brave warriors who fought and died went to feast, drink, fight and be merry. But because she was also a werewolf it got complicated and involved a ritual burning a Glenmora witches head and releasing Brii's inner beast, defeating her wolf spirit, cleansing it of the werewolf forever; only then would her soul be free to return to her ancestors. Ironically enough, the greatest Companion to ever live, Yssgramor, whose very axe she wielded, resided in Sovernguarde. Brii had gushed upon meeting his shade as he expressed his pride at her for leading the Companions like he once had 400 years ago. She even got to see their previous Companion leader Kodlak, and was elated to see the ritual she'd performed had worked and his spirit safe in Sovernguarde. This gave her safe consolation that hers would too, one day in the far future.

Old Gray-Mane shouted to them while working the one of a kind Skyforge, distracting her from her thoughts. The Skyforge could make the best, hardest, sharpest metal in Skyrim, but he only made steel for the Companions or rare, special reasons. "Greetings Harbinger! What can I do for you?" he addressed her.

"I need to put the word out to have all the Companions on discreet alert. How would I go about doing so?" Brii asked.

"Hmmm. What exactly do you need the Companions to do?" he rubbed his fingers through his whitened beard.

"I'm not exactly sure what we're up against yet, but when I need them, all of them, will they be ready to come to my aid when I call?"

"Of course, Harbinger! Whenever you have need of us, you need simply howl, and the winds of Hircine will bring it to our ears. We will be waiting & we will be ready. And I shall be by your side, making your weapons & armor, whenever you need them." The old man smiled. He himself was not a werewolf, but he was one of the few humans that knew their secret. All of Whiterun knew about and loved the Companions. What they didn't know, was some of the Companions were werewolves. If the general public ever found out, they'd be hunted down and wiped out.

She took them to the underforge, located deep under the enormous Skyforge, hidden from view in plain sight. She asked her second in command, Farkas to meet her. She handed him some enveloped letters. "Don't say anything to the rest of the pack yet, just have them ready for my call. Send these letters to our pack brothers and sisters at Frost Moon Crag in Solsteim and spread the word amongst the wolves of Hircine. I have a feeling an enormous fight is coming, Shield brother, we need all the help we can get."

"Yes Harbinger. I give you my word we will be ready. I'll send word to the other packs." He promised.

"Leave at least one wolf here in case my children need to stay here for any reason." She ordered him.

"It will be done Harbinger." He assured her. Farkas was the only one she could trust the most. If need be, he would go and fetch her children himself and guard them with his life.

They left Whiterun and traveled to Rorikstead, to Brii's manor. Both Fahlil and Ashira slapped their thighs and had a good laugh when they found out it had originally belonged to Ragnar the Red. A large dragon swooped overhead, landing on the top of the house making the earth shudder. Fahlil and Ashira readied their weapons at the beast but Brii raised her hand to stop them.

"That is Vulonjunyol. He guards my 2 children. He is safe." Her two daughters greeted her upon arrival and stared curiously at Ashira's overly large ears. Brii handed them each two tiny painted shields with the Stormcloak symbol on it.

"Now girls, if you are ever endangered here, take the white horse I have for you, travel to Whiterun. Go up to the top until you see a huge bird carved out of stone. Ask for the Companions. They will take care of you at Jorvaskaar. Be on the lookout for Uncle Farkas. He may come fetch you. Be strong. You are Stormcloaks! I have some important things to do, and I'll probably going to be gone a long time. You know what it takes to be the daughters of the dragonborn. When I return from Elsweyr I'll tell you all about my adventures!" she hugged each of them fiercely. She handed the girls each a wolf ring that she'd acquired from the pack in Solsteim, telling them to show it to the Companions should they need proof of their adopted lineage. They promised to behave, and she informed the house Carl of her instructions.

"We must stop in Riften next, this one has a friend who knows the way to the moonpath to Elseweyr." Ashira mentioned.

"Perfect. I also have a...friend in Riften who can keep an eye on the girls while I'm away. Moonpath? And you don't know the way yourself?" Brii questioned.

"This one has not been to Elsweyr since this one was a small cub except just recently. Plus moonpaths are different each time. There is much about the moon that you werewolves do not know." Ashira jade eyes flickered wisely.

"First we must stop by my cabin. I need to gather a few things." Fahliil spoke up. Brii swung up on her dappled grey, Nordic armored horse and they set off.

Ashira and Brii stared in shock at Fahliils remote tiny cabin. "What!?" she shrugged and proceeded inside.

"But your horse lives in a bigger place than you!" Brii exclaimed.

"She is a good horse." Fahlil clucked to her brown horse, bedecked in hunters armor. Fahliil protected her animal allies well.

"You don't even have a front door!" Ashira gasped. "What if someone robs you blind?"

Fahliil shrugged again. "There is nothing to steal. If they do, I can replace everything easily simply by hunting." The cabin was small, like the kind you would see wandering the wilds of Skyrim, where an old hermit would dwell in solitude. It was perched on stilts smack dab in the middle of a river island right in front of a waterfall. Fahliil was right. Any thief with any common sense wouldn't waste their time trying to rob this hovel. There was literally only one bed roll, a chest to store her belongings and a table with a shrine of Kynareth on it. Hidden underneath a pile of brush was a tiny basement for in case the weather got too bad as the cabin leaked. She gathered a few apples, venison, some fermented elves ear, a small pouch of green herb and stuffed it all in a pouch. She started to grab her bow and arrow but the khajiit hissed at her.

"This one is the archer of this group! It is doubtful you could even shoot half as good as I, so your skill would be wasted!" she flashed her wicked claws, competitively.

"Touchy kitty." Fahliil observed, then turned to Brii. "And you are a sulky wolf! Bless Kynareth I am good with animals!" she half teased them, laughing. Both feline and canine glared at her. Fahliil shrugged and strode off, apparently nothing bothered her. She was genuinely a simple, happy creature. Only being dragonborn bothered her, and she seemed to be the only one in the group who had not accepted who she was. She rarely used her dragonborn powers. Instead she worked with the animals, and her surroundings to her advantage to aid her in battle.

Once they headed to Riften, Ashira took charge, for she was clearly in her element in the local rabble and its scum inhabited streets. This was the rundown city, the Thieves Guild ruled here, and Ashira was at the head of it. She fearlessly puffed on her gourd pipe whilst making her quick little side deals with numerous people. There was nothing she wouldn't or couldn't sell: gems, jewelry, trinkets, drinks, drugs, even trash she no longer wanted. If she could have peddled flesh, Ashira would have been a major success at it and she had enough money to always make people talk. Even the sternest of guards caved to her charm, accepting coin or drug as bribe for any of the various crimes Ashira got caught at. **When** she got caught that is, which was rare.

They stopped by the Bee & Barb where Brii met up with her lover, Mjoll the Lioness, drowning her loneliness in a bottle of Black Briar mead. Her and Brii were both much alike. Blonde hair, blue eyes, blue war paint, fighters down to their very last breath. In fact, Mjoll had fancied Brii first, but Aela had 'beaten her to the Amulet of Mara' so to speak. Brii asked if she would stop by and check on the girls every so often and Mjoll agreed to help. She perked up a bit when Brii suggested that she go to the Sky Haven temple and become a Blade; for Mjoll had become restless with nothing to fight.

After dark, Ashira silently led them towards the graveyard. "What I am about to show you, you must never reveal to anyone, or suffer Nocturnal's wrath...as well as mine!" she hissed. They entered an old labyrinth with a single coffin in it. Carved on the front was a diamond shaped symbol with a circle in the middle. Ashira pushed the button, and the coffin slid backwards, revealing a hidden stair case leading down towards a round hole covered by a wooden lid. Ashira pulled a chain next to it and the coffin slid back into place, encasing them in darkness. Ashira could see fine, her khajiit night vision allowed her to see everything almost as well as she could see in the day time. She popped open the lid and shimmied quickly down the ladder. Brii and Fahliil followed her and found themselves in the dampest, dankest, darkest place they'd ever been in. Lo and behold they were in the Thieves Guild! Several thieves dressed in thieves guild armor wandered about doing various tasks. Each greeted their Guild Master with respect and seemed to genuinely like their leader. She too rallied her troops, and had them doing more jobs to bring in more riches; no idle hands, for money was power.

They stopped by The Ragged Flagon for a quick bite of skeever stew, a tankard of mead and of course, the khajiit's favorite pastries. She was their leader and they always had her favorites on hand whenever she stopped by. The moment she stepped foot in Riften, probably even when she was just nearing the city, word quickly spread down to the Thieves Guild and everyone had their reports and tasks finished by the time she'd descended the ladder into their hidden hovel. She was efficient in the world of business and knew how to get things done. She even had her claws dipped in the East Empire and the Thalmor Trading Companies. Who do you think did the accounting for the Thalmor when Ashira was a slave?

They continued on through the Ratway Tunnels, going a certain way that only Ashira knew of, marked by secret code by the Thieves Guild. "Where are we going cat?" Brii asked as she grew frustrated by their smelly surroundings.

"It is not far. We are meeting with my friend. He knows the way to the khajiit caravans that travel the moonpath." Ashira said.

"Just where is this friend?" Brii huffed.

"He is currently in the Riften Jail. Why? It does not matter." Ashira replied smoothly. They came out of the tunnels right next to the Riften Jail. No wonder the Thieves Guild was able to get around so quickly. They had their own personal underground tunneling system right beneath the town! Ashira strode right up to the guard who demanded to know why she was in there. Deftly she yawned and held out a pouch containing roughly 500 coins. He let them in without so much as a backwards glance. It seemed Ashira did have a lot of pull around here; most who tried that got arrested or their heads lopped off. The Riften Jail was just like any other jail, rooms separated with bars with each cell containing a bed of straw, a bucket and a pallet to sleep on. Some of the prisoners that were in there for a long time had tables and chairs in their cells. The only one that seemed to be living luxuriously in jail was Maven Black-Briar's son. Maven Black-Briar was Riften's new Jarl after being appointed by the Stormcloaks. Before that even, she had Riften in her back pocket and had ties to the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild. Her son was always getting into trouble, and so had a permanent room at the jail cell, complete with the nicest accommodations and the finest of foods, and any book, pleasure or company he wanted delivered to him. Ashira strode right by him as he called out to her.

"Hey, my old time friend, Ashira right! Put a good word in with my mother, would you? She listens to you Thieves Guild types. Congratulations on your promotion by the way." He begged her. Ashira pretended he didn't exist and kept going. Brii recognized him and stopped.

"Aren't you the one I had to steal that horse Frost for? He's a fine stallion and I convinced the owner to let me keep him." Brii told him.

"Yeah, I remember you! The breathtakingly gorgeous nord woman in white fur. Glad to see things worked out for you." He grinned to her. Then he noticed Fahliil. "Ah, what's a beautiful little elf girl like you doing down here? Why don't you come in here and give me some company for a few hours? I'll pay you triple." He leered at her. Fahliil huffed in disgust and took off after Ashira.

They reached a cell with a khajiit the unlike any of them had seen. He had beautiful blue/black fur, a skull painted on his face, red paint streaked in his dark mane, and bore scars across his nose.

"Inigo, my old friend! How good to see you! This one has not seen you in many, many years!" Ashira picked the lock within seconds and was in his cell embracing him like a long lost friend.

"Ashira! I had thought to never see you again! How does life treat you these days?" he casually asked, as if they had all the time in the world. Surely any moment the guards would come making their rounds and catch them breaking a prisoner out.

"We will catch up later old friend. For now we must get out of here. You still know the moonpath way to the khajiit caravans yes?" she threw him some extra thieves guild armor to wear for prisoners wore burlap sacks, but Inigo being khajiit had been reduced to a measly loincloth.

"Yes, yes, oh yes! I still remember the way! One does not forget the place of one's birth." He sighed wistfully. Quickly he dressed and the 4 walked out casually as if they didn't have an extra person with them coming out. The guard at the entrance waved them through without a care in the world.

Outside at the Riften stables Ashira mounted her dappled gray mare outfitted with leather armor and the rest mounted their horses. Inigo rode behind Ashira as he did not have a horse.

"Where are we headed Inigo?" Ashira asked.

"To Falkreath, where dead men drink! Or is it the drink of a dead man? Maybe men drink the dead? I forget." he chuckled to himself, and the 4 took off on their journey in search of the moonpath.

Moon Path to Elsweyr

They arrived in Falkreath the following night after riding constantly. The locals stopped and stared at the strange party: 2 Khajiit, a Nord and a Wood Elf.

"I see no khajiit caravan." Brii huffed in disappointment.

"Ah, there is what we seek, Dead Man's Drink!" Inigo pointed to the local tavern. They entered, and indeed, 2 unusual looking khajiit in strange armor were gathered around a table, sharing a drink. Ashira approached what looked like the leader, a gray striped fellow with silver armor caked in sweat and sand, bearing a red standard with a lion on it. "Greetings. Do you know the way of the moon?" she asked.

"I do indeed; know the way of the moon. I am called Ku'rana. Greetings sand-sister."

"This one is called Ashira, Dovahkiin."

"Oh ho! The dragonborn! Even us khajiti in Elsweyr have heard the thunder of your Voice!"

"Might this one and my companions travel with you?"

"Do not ask, but do! If you wish to travel the Ja'Kha'Jay moonstrings then you are welcome! But better to ask my mate first, just in case." He ducked his head, embarrassed. Ashira grinned and turned to the skinny female khajiit beside him.

"Is he your mate? Might we travel with you to Elseweyr?" Ashira asked.

"Yes he is my mate mostly, although all cats stray from time to time." She said slyly, her cat eyes winking in the firelight. "Traveling the moonpath is a spiritual experience for all khajiiti. You are welcome to travel with us to Elsweyr. We follow the phases of the moon, all khajiit caravan do. There is a reason some khajiit stick around even after we are not wanted. Sometimes the moon is not right to do so. The moonpath's are unique and special, and each time a khajiit travels it, their spirituality grows." She smiled at them. "Sure, you look strong and able so you might prove useful on the journey. We could all use extra claws on this trip. I am Verina."

"Pack your belongings in the cart, we will set off shortly, the moon is almost at its peak." Ku'rana spoke. They packed their belongings in the enormous wagon and climbed in it. Soon they all grew weary and fell asleep. Upon awakening, they sat up, rubbed their eyes and wondered what magic had been done to them.

Brii lifted the flap and gazed out. "Uh, guys, I don't think we're in Skyrim anymore." She stepped out into the night.

It was nighttime and the moon shone large and heavy above them, covered in beautiful colors of light and surrounded by stars. Ashira gasped and fell to her knees, praying in Khajiti. Brii had the strangest urge to rip her clothes off and howl at the moon but she stopped herself just in time, reminding herself she was not alone. Fahliil noticed the nord squirming with her clothes and knew she struggled with the change.

The place was beautiful, in its own way. Desert as far as the eye could see, they were parked in a magnificent canyon. A campfire burned with a couple of logs resting next to it and the khajiti couple sitting on them. An enormous beast, bigger than any they'd seen loomed nearby. It lumbered about on 4 legs, snorting and huffing, its face covered in 5 huge horns, its furless body covered in a thick hide. The dragonborn didn't know whether it was friend or foe; they tensed, waiting.

"That is our Therium but we khajiti just call them mooncow. Large, but a sweetheart." Verina answered their questioning looks. "She pulls the carts, is strong and sturdy, she has no enemies for none are large enough to challenge her. When a mooncow runs no jungle, sand, wall nor army can stop them. Very useful against arrows as well."

"We feed her all the Thalmor droppings she can eat!" Ku'rana laughed heartily and slapped his thighs.

"Cow?" Brii questioned. She couldn't help it. She was hungry.

"Don't get any ideas dog." Ashira hissed at her. They heard a rustling in the bushes behind them. A pack of hyenas broke out and tried to attack them. They were young, inexperienced and starving. The mooncow reared up and came crashing down on one hyena's head, splattering blood and brain beneath its enormous weight. Ashira calmly grabbed the white crossbow behind her and loaded a glowing arrow onto it. She took aim and pulled the trigger. The arrow was fast, deadly, and highly accurate. When it buried itself in the hyena's heart, a blinding light as powerful as a miniature sun exploded, disintegrating the enemies body and damaging all those around it. Everyone shielded their eyes but could not look away from its brilliance.

They finished off the rest of the hyenas and collected the meat, for it would be their supper. Ku'rana took great interest in Ashira's crossbow, and Brii thought there was something familiar about it as well. "We have heard of arrows that blind like the sun, but we thought it only a lost legend!" Verina marveled at it. Ashira ran her hands lovingly over the white crossbow with gold trim.

"When I was a member of the Dawnguard, we discovered Auriel's bow, and I love the bow mind you, but the crossbow is just a hair quicker; so I took the dwarven crossbow blueprints and modified them for Auriel's bow, and turned it into the best crossbow in Skyrim!" Ashira proudly told.

"You're in the Dawnguard? I am as well. What made you join? It was my duty as the dragonborn, as a Blade, as Harbinger of the Companions to rid the world of the evil vampires. We haven't found Auriel's bow yet though." Brii frowned.

"I joined only for the crossbows and Auriel's bow, a most magnificent weapon that I made even better!" Ashira grinned. They set the hyena meat to cooking and Ashira noticed the caravan couple talking excitedly about something. She asked them what was taking so long, why they were not moving forward. They explained to her that there was quite possibly a large group of rogue khajiit or Renrijra Bandits. They were no longer considered khajiit and were exterminated on sight. They were the ones who betrayed the Mane, the khajiti form of government and royalty, the ones who turned on their littermates and prides.

"When khajiit turn renrij they have no reason to be. The sand will bury their shame." Ku'rana simply stated. He explained to Ashira that although they would love to fight, there were more of them then just the 2 of them. They were curious to see what fighting skills the dragonborn had. Ashira agreed without even consulting the others.

"What's the plan?" Fahliil asked.

"We're going to sneak up there, and take out that possibly large group of khajiit bandits. They are scum, they have murdered and stolen from their families, their friends and monarchy. They deserve to die. But do not underestimate them. They are hard, with good weapons and armor, and they live in an unforgivable desert with no food and water and remain fit, healthy and active. Once we clear the path, we can continue our journey." Ashira explained.

Brii looked up again at the moon and shivered. Oh how she'd love to hunt – Verina approached her, interrupting her thoughts. "If it is the moon you wish to hunt, please do so sister, just do not harm any of our kind. Those bandits are no longer our kind." She stared at Brii knowingly. Brii just nodded wordlessly and stepped behind the giant mooncow to strip her clothes and sprout her fur. Even the mooncow didn't know whether to be afraid of her or not at first, but as soon as it got a whiff of her, it backed up, and she came into view.

Brii was enormous as a wolf, ice blue eyes, pale white fur, she towered, her feminine beast like body clad only in fur, she walked about on two legs, but when she ran, it would be on four, and she could easily outrun any horse. "Can you be silent you overgrown wolf?" Ashira complained. Brii growled softly, but nodded her head once. "Let me know when you're in position. I'll fire the first shot." Ashira took charge. This was her homeland after all.

Brii took off at a fast lope ahead, parallel to the path, hiding amongst the rocks. Her pale fur actually blended in well here. She breathed in and out, enjoying the wind rushing by her ears, the sand catching in her fur. She'd have to bathe later. She heard them before she saw them. Ashira had too, her oversized ears making her hearing better than an average khajiits. She saw Brii positioned across from her, ready to leap on one of the bandits. She took aim at one of them and fired. Before he could even react to being struck in the chest with an arrow, Ashira had another one firing into his skull. Ashira was fond of the double tap, she could fire 2 arrows faster than most people could fire one.

Brii pounced on the 2 khajiit below her. She landed on one and began pounding into him, shredding his innards with her claws. Then she leaned forward and ripped his heart out with her jaws, crushed his heart with her teeth and swallowed the whole bloody, pulpy mass. She turned to Ashira, her eyes glowing feral, blood dripping from her mouth and all down her front, she raised her snout to the moon and howled long and hard, the sound echoing off the canyon walls, raising goose bumps on every creature that heard it.

Ashira nodded her head in respect and kept firing at the enemy. Fahliil charged the enemy with naught but 2 wood chopping axes, twirling and whirling, like a spiked leaf caught in a tornado, hurling destruction in its path. Inigo was also bowman like Ashira and fired arrow after arrow at the enemy, hitting his mark almost every time. After the bandits had been eliminated, the main leader slain, hearts had been eaten by the werewolf, bodies and treasure looted, and sight-seeing they returned back to the campfire down the road.

The hyena meat was nearly done and the Ku'rana praised their fighting skills while they ate. Hyena meat was strange, a little dusty and gamey, ropey and tough, but with the strange surrounding herbs Verina had made it a tasty little meal. They climbed back into the caravan again and laid down for a nap.

When they awoke next, it was to a vastly different landscape. Sweltering blue-green jungle surrounded them from all sides. They were so thickly in the jungle, they didn't know how they'd gotten so deep. Their current path was blocked by a collapsed bridge, and the cart could not go past it. Ku'rana once again approached the dragonborn and asked for their help finding a different path around the broken rubble.

They made their way across the moss covered wreckage, and were rounding a bend in the path when all of a sudden it got quiet. Ashira stopped them and listened, her whiskers twitching. "Listen, do you hear that hissing noise?" she asked Brii.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a green sticky webbing shot Fahliil directly in the face. It stung her eyes as she cried out and tried to wipe the deadly goo off. "Jungle spiders!" Ashira cried out. They were surrounded by jungle hatchling spiders. These hatchlings were twice the size of Skyrim's giant spider hatchlings, and bright green all over with beady little red eyes. They were accurate at flinging their poisons' web. Eventually their enormous mother came down and they defeated her as well.

They continued on and found a shallow river the cart could cross to get to the path on the other side and continue their journey. They circled back and informed Ku'rana & Verina. They would stay another night and be in Elsweyr by morning.

Ashira and Inigo went for a walk on their own, to catch up on their friendship. The two had known each other a very long time, they'd been childhood friends as cubs until Ashira was taken away and sold into slavery for the Thalmor. She didn't see him again until he helped her escape years later when they'd sold her to a rich elven family in Cyrodil. Ashira didn't care much for elves. They might put up a show of how goody-good they were, but they were the biggest slavers of all the race, even the Dark Elves had enslaved her brethren beast race, the argonians. They'd had to part ways for several years and he'd returned to Elsweyr. Ashira had found him wasting away in the Riften Jail even with more scars on his face than before. They climbed in the caravan one last time and slept the deep dreams of the moonpath.

Elsweyr

"Wake up, wake up! We are here at my personal hideaway, Priderock!" Ashira threw back the curtains, blinding the dragonborn with the morning sun. Cries of outrage could be heard until Ashira dragged them out and bade them to look where they were at.

It was a beautiful paradise home and the strangest they'd seen yet. It was an outdoor home, set high in the trees and Fahliil absolutely loved it. Ashira grinned at the wood elf.

"This is my home in Elsweyr! You are all welcome to my abode!" Ashira waved her paw. Ku'rana and Verina left them to continue following the moonpaths.

"Watch out, behind you!" Brii reached for her enormous axe. Ashira was being approached by a large orange feline with dark stripes and wicked looking sabers for teeth.

"No!" Ashira hissed, placing herself in front of the deadly looking creature. "These are the Pahmar Guard. They are my personal protection while I am here. They are khajiit like me, only they retained their animal forms. They only talk to a lucky few, myself included through mind-speak. Dare not to harm them!" she warned.

Fahliil dropped to her knees in admiration of the big cat, having an effigy for animals, even though the Pahmar was every bit as intelligent as her. She caressed the silken fur on its head and was rewarded with a rumbling purring sound.

They descended the wooden steps from the entrance, the Pahmar Guard remained there, always watchful. They were greeted by a female khajiit in desert armor and a hood. She spotted Ashira and her friends, started hopping up and down and clapping her furred paws.

"Yura!" Ashira ran to hug the khajiit. The two embraced and continued the hopping and clapping together. Yura was Ashira's best friend in Elsweyr and lived here all the time at Priderock. They were in fact cousins, and had reunited when Ashira had made her first trip back to Elsweyr.

"What brings the dragonborn in this part of the jungle?" Yura grinned slyly & sniffed the air. "You have more than one dragonborn with you! How is this possible?" she asked.

"It is a tale that will be sung by bards for many generations my friend; we are headed to the Tenmar Forest to find a few things out about the universe." Ashira clapped Yura on the back.

"I will guide you there, but first, let us refresh from your long journey of the Ja'Kha'Jay moonstrings!" Yura exclaimed. They continued along the raised wooden walkway. An enormous, towering rock was in the middle of the clearing and it was surrounded by water and jungle vegetation. Wooden walkways had been built all around the enormous boulder, and stone floors had been carved right out of the miniature plateau. There were no outer walls whatsoever. The Elsweyr banner proudly hung in front, deep red with the symbol of a lion encircled on it. There was always a khajiit trader in a small boat off to the left, right behind an archery range and a Pahmar Guard stalking. The water was shallow in some places, and mooncows and red rivercrabs wandered about below. A beautiful waterfall cascaded down, supplying the seen water. They climbed up, past a sitting area with bookshelves accompanied by another Pahmar Guard. They passed a strange looking ship just hovering off the right side.

"What in Oblivion is that contraption?" Brii asked.

"It is an airship. It is this one's personal transportation while in Elsweyr." Ashira stated. It was a wondrous invention, a ship that rode on air using propeller systems and large, hot air balloons. "We will take one when we go out to Topal Sea for supplies for the return trip home." Ashira promised them the chance to ride on one.

They continued up to the small bedroom that had no walls and was open to the world, facing the beautiful waterfall and nothing else. The green herb Ashira and the others had smoked earlier was growing all over this place in neat little pots, all different types and strains. Ashira poured everyone a nice glass of khajiit spiced wine and they dined on the delicate rivercrab; cousin to the mudcrab but much more rare and delicious, while they told Yura of their adventures so far.

"It is Ameir you want to speak to at Tenmar Forest. She might know of such things." Yura danced and clapped her hands. She did that often. After refreshments, they took off towards the waterways of Elsweyr. Brii almost got mowed over by a mooncow in a hurry to get to the other side of the shallow running river. The others laughed at her dripping wet clothes as she growled and threatened to turn the mooncow into moon steak.

After many hours of traveling in ankle deep water, dodging rivercrabs and battling Zahilisk (raptor like creatures); it was well past noon when they finally reached a break in the jungle. The river ran hard and fast yet shallow, cascading from a giant waterfall that fell from many breaks in the mountainside. Across the river was the main resistance against the Thalmor. A wooden dock patrolled by a Pahmar Guard watched them cross the bitingly cold waters.

Ashira once again took the lead with Yura and Inigo following directly behind her, telling her where to go. She asked around for Ameir and was told she would have to wait for her return. Brii went to go stand by the enormous bonfire at the back and Fahliil cooed to a mooncow and her baby. Ashira wandered around exploring, picking up any valuable knickknacks when no one was watching. She climbed some ladder steps and bumped into another khajiit and was sent rolling down the steps to sprawl on the grass below.

"My apologies little one!" a voice boomed over her. She was picked up and set back on her feet at the top of the steps. Ashira found herself staring at the middle of a very big, dark furred, armored chest. Ashira looked up...and up. He was the biggest khajiit she'd ever seen, at least 3 times her height, and Ashira was taller than most humans with her pointed ears. Ashira stammered, unable to reply. She batted her eyelashes and twitched her whiskers. Ashira wanted to wrap him up and take her back to Skyrim with her. It was clear the poor khajiit had it bad for the big guy.

"My most sincere deep apologies! I am Mervar Denfriend. I am a different type of khajiit and I guard the khajiti living here." He pointed to himself. Golden beads decorated his mustache looking mouth mane and his yellow eyes gleamed with humor.

"I am Ashira, dragonborn." Ashira bowed slightly.

"Ah! The dragonborn! My twin brother and I have heard of you! My what large ears you have! They would fit a khajiit such as my size. They look lovely on you though." He commented her. Ashira blushed faintly and smiled at him, dazed that there could be 2 such handsome fellows and wicked thoughts ran amuck through her feline brain. His war axe rivaled Brii's and was made of sharp green glass tempered so hot it would not break. Ameir arrived then and the dragonborn sat with her and explained their parallel world problem.

"It sounds to me like you need daedric artifacts to aid you. There is one told that can open portals to other planes. Perhaps that is what you seek. It is hidden in some ancient Nordic island." Ameir informed them.

"Brii, do you know of any ancient Nordic island?" Ashira asked her.

"No, none that I've heard of, but I shall check with the Companions when we return." She pursed her full lips thoughtfully.

"Come, we must go to the caravan trading post for supplies to return home. Perhaps someone at the market will know of daedric artifacts!" Ashira excitedly rubbed her paws together. Yura said her goodbyes, expressing her deepest regrets that she could not return with them and join in on their dragon slaying. Then Inigo approached Ashira.

"May I have a moment, my dear friend?" he held her paw. "I shall be staying here for a while, help out with our brothers and sisters at the resistance. I shall see you around!" he rubbed noses with her affectionately. Ashira embraced her childhood friend goodbye. At least they had gotten to say their farewells this time. She would see him again.

"Goodbye, dear Inigo. May the moonpaths guide you. See you soon!" she promised him. They headed back to Ashira's hideaway and prepared to board the airship that would take them to the caravan trading post. They were greeted by a red furred shirtless khajiit with an eye patch.

"Welcome to the Waning Moon, ye mateys! I be the Captain Skullcat. Where be your destination?" he drawled like an overseas pirate. Ashira told him they were headed to the caravan trading post. They headed below to the cabin. Ashira had the best accommodations as this was her ship and could be used as a small home base if needed. Several hours later they were awakened with the sounds of battle above deck. Why were they always sleeping when traveling? It seemed it was the only way they could get enough rest.

The sun was setting as they raced above deck and came face to face with an enemy ship loaded with Thalmor agents who were trying to make their way across to the Waning Moon. Ashira 'Fus Ro Dah'd' at them, rocking their airship and gaining their attentions, sweeping a few Thalmor overboard with her Thu'um. She fired arrow after blinding arrow at them, before grabbing a rope and swinging her way across to the other airship, heedless of the Akatosh-knows-how-many thousands of miles the ground was below her.

Brii transformed into her wolf form and leapt from one airship to the other, mauling a Thalmor on her landing and swallowing his heart whole. A whole ship full of hearts! She would defiantly gain in werewolf power tonight! Fahliil ran across the plank someone had hastily thrown across swinging a woodcutter's axe and a miniature crossbow Ashira had made especially for her. It didn't deal out much damage, but with good accuracy could be deadly in the right hands. And those hands belonged to Fahliil who already had a skill in bows, found she favored the quicker, smaller crossbow. After they defeated the Thalmor and captured their airship, they returned on deck, they noticed the Captain Skullcat had various wounds on his bare furred torso. Ashira stopped to offer him some healing potions but he declined and laughed, saying Skooma was all he needed and they continued on to the caravan trading post.

"That's one tough son of a bitch." Ashira admired the Captain. "Never complains of any wounds in battle, just drinks the pain away with Skooma.

They exited the airship onto the hot, dry sands that were deceptively flat. This was the real desert of Elsweyr. They could hear the sand whispering all around them, coating everything in a gritty golden layer. There was supposed to be an entire settlement of trading here, but it looked abandoned, everything almost completely buried beneath the sand. They found one lone khajiit working the smelter, shoveling hot coals into it so as to melt hot metal for reshaping.

"What happened here?" Ashira asked him.

"The Thalmor attacked us. Everyone else either fled or slain. I was the only one left here to run the forge. I do not know if anyone else will be sent soon. Perhaps eventually, for the caravans will need to restock their supplies." He explained.

"We took care of the Thalmor earlier. They must have just come from their 'khajiit conquest' here." Ashira spat.

"There is an oasis up ahead somewhere in the desert. Mind the Siligonder Chitin." He informed them. The Siligonder Chitin was like the chitin of Skyrim, only blacker and much, much bigger, easily towering over a human.

They took off into the desert, wandering amongst the sand dunes. The sun beat relentlessly down upon them, and they soon used up the rest of their food and drink. It was so unbearably hot that Brii actually began to pant in her wolf form. She'd long abandoned her human form, sick to death of sand getting in every crevice under her furs.

Even Fahliil who loved nature in its every aspect was sick of sand. It stuck in her hair and she knew she'd never wash it out. Her leathers did nothing but suck the heat into her body, and she noticed a fine green sheen to her sweat.

Ashira seemed almost comfortable with the desert. She'd traded her regular armor for a desert chitin armor set stolen from one of the renegades; it was made to keep out the sand. The sand seemed to bounce harmlessly away from her fur too. It was much sleeker, smoother and oilier than Brii's wolf fur. Sand refused to get under it and the khajiit was probably suffering the least out of all of them.

Brii's nose picked up the scent of freshwater and green things growing. Across the desert they hurried, anxious to rest in a cool, wet, shaded place. They found the oasis, secluded inside a rock formation, surrounded by palm trees. The place was run by an argonian and Ashira made a mental note to tell TssVar about it.

The argonian was friendly and helped them gather fruits and nourishment and offered them the latest gossip from other travelers and listened to their tale while they rested. She suggested they go to Topal Sea, a new khajiti trading post with a market and many adventurers from all over Tamriel. They could gather information while stocking up on supplies for their journey back to Skyrim.

Back at the airship, their flight was peaceful and uneventful. They arrived at the metal dock of Topal Sea. It had just been founded and was a secret against the Thalmor who'd destroyed their previous trading places. Ashira greeted the blacksmith who happened to be the first person they ran into.

"If you told me I was not a cat, and I told you that you were not bothering me, we would both be lying." He strongly hinted at them. Ashira's people the khajiit were some of the strangest beings in Tamriel, having even predated the humans and elves. They continued on down a narrow one person walkway along the cliff of the island, most of the island being untouched. They exited out into the market place.

Cows, chickens and goats roamed free all over the place and the roar and hubbub of market was the same no matter where you went. Khajiit strolled everywhere, making trades, puffing on pipes, doing business. The female khajiit adventurer next to them at the bar spoke, "This one has heard about so many arrows to the knee. Khajiit do not understand why this is so funny."

Ashira strode up to the bartender, always the best and first place to start when gathering local information. They were pointed towards the end of the market, around the corner to a dock where a lone khajiit would be peddling her wares on a boat.

They continued through the market, making purchases for their long journey back home. Ashira seemed to be buying more than they needed, but she assured them not to worry. Brii once again almost got mowed over by a loose mooncow roaming around crossing the bridge that led to the fishing area.

At the very end was a female khajiit selling fish and simple items. Ashira spoke with her for a length of time, then came away smiling. "The island we are looking for is called Falskaar. Plus we are getting our very own mooncow to take back with us to Skyrim!" she smiled slyly.

"Oh no!" Brii groaned.

"Oh yes! This one asked Aleyt, the skinny female khajiit dressed in red with the same color eyes as mine at the resistance camp to breed me a small army of mooncows. Remember Verina saying not even an army could stop them when they run, so it wouldn't hurt to have a few of the powerful, gentle beasts on our side. The khajiti will train them for war for us." Ashira grinned merrily to the wolf.

"How are we going to take an extra mooncow with us on the caravan back to Skyrim?" Fahliil wondered.

"Ladies, how would you like to arrive back at Skyrim in style?" Ashira smiled widely at them.

Planning

They broke through the clouds and started the slow descend to the ground. They'd been on the airship forever it seemed and Fahliil could barely keep Brii and Ashira from each other's throats. Ashira had wanted to sail over all of Skyrim, showing the world her flying contraption. Brii had thought it wiser not to announce their secret weapons to the world and possibly their enemies, so they opted to land at the Throat of the World, where no one would see them, hidden from prying eyes. It would also be safe there too, as no one climbed the 7000 steps to High Hrothgar let alone the top of the mountain above it. Guarded by the dragon Parthunaax and a wind barrier only dragonborn with the Clear Skies shout could get past, no one would interfere with their plans.

They burst through the back entrance of High Hrothgar, startling the Greybeards from their duties. They collected Urda, Rayna and Imperia, telling them nothing, and making their way to TssVar's amethyst hideout. Amethyst Falls was enormous. Made up of 4 waterfalls all pooled together none but the strongest of swimmers could make it beneath the pounding and churning of the waterfall transcending thousands of feet above.

Imperia thought she would surely drown when they emerged from the waterfall sputtering, coughing, spitting up water. A small living area with a bed, table and chair rested at the top of some stairs. A wood elf sat next to a blazing fire, watching his garden.

"You must be the ones the lizard told me to watch out for." He stated.

"Where is TssVar? Is this her place or not?" Brii demanded.

"No this is not her place. But you have to come here before you can get there." He chuckled merrily to himself. "Her place resides in the Dream World. Drink this Amethyst Torpor, and it will take you there." He gestured to a bowl under the stairs filled with purple liquid.

"Like a psychedelic drug?" Ashira grinned knowingly.

"Similar yes. Why don't you try it? The Listener has been waiting long enough for your return." He said. Ashira walked up to the bowl and sniffed the sweet savory scent. Cautiously she dipped her paws in and sipped a mouthful. She felt nothing at first, then a tingling sensation that grew stronger and stronger until the world around her began to fade. Brii watched Ashira vanish before her very eyes.

Ashira watched as the place she was at disappear, and an entirely new place materialize around her. She was standing on a dock overlooking an endless ocean and witnessing the most breathtakingly beautiful sunset she'd ever saw in her entire life. Soon after, the others teleported all around her and gasped at the beauty before them. The sky was a pure pink, fading from orange and yellow, the sun starting to descend into the water. Sea gulls called to each other and the ocean breeze blew coolly around them. A smaller dock off to the left housed a table and chairs with a merry little fire to enjoy the view.

"I see you enjoy my permanent sunset." TssVar eyed them from her front door behind them. Once again the dragonborn were startled, turning for their weapons. Dremora standing next to TssVar chuckled, she enjoyed watching the other's unease around the deadly argonian. TssVar motioned her scaly head towards the door, turned and strode inside, leaving the door open for the others to follow.

Inside the other's gaped at TssVar's abode. A large fountain sprinkled in the foyer surrounded by argonian shaped mannequins dressed in various forms of assassin gear. Daggers were displayed everywhere, TssVar's favorite weapon. Off to the left was a good sized bedroom attached to a separate room with a huge shower. Off to the right were more argonian shaped mannequins & displayed daggers leading down to the servants' staircase. In the center was a grand staircase with a button at the top. TssVar pressed the button down, and descended the stairs into the dining area.

The dining area was expansive and could serve several people. Windows at the back displayed the beautiful sunset from outside, only instead of overlooking a dock, it overlooked a pristine forest. The button TssVar had pressed at the top of the stairs shut the stone shutters to the windows and reopened them, this time with different scenery. The windows rose to reveal an underwater world, complete with swimming fish and seaweed. Ashira whistled.

"Impressive place." She commented. TssVar grinned her sinister toothy smile and said nothing. Fahliil noticed the lovely little waterfall at the bottom of the stairs as it cascaded down into a small garden where butterflies hovered about. They all seated themselves around the stone tables in the dining area. A servant quickly came from behind the nearby bar.

"What will everyone be having?" he looked nervously about.

"I thought you were going to dismiss all your servants." Ashira questioned.

"With all of you other dragonborn here? I don't think so. I'll not have my place trashed!" TssVar hissed.

"Do you carry Firebrand Wine?" Dremora piped up.

"Yes ma'am, we sure do." The bartender assured her. TssVar waved her hand, giving the bartender permission to get the others what they asked for, grumbling about being eaten out of house and home under her breath. Brii naturally asked for Nord Mead and Ashira wanted Double Distilled Skooma, which surprisingly TssVar had. It was extremely rare and hard to get ahold of. Fahliil wanted to try the mead with juniper berry in it and Urda ordered a bottle of Black Briar mead. Imperia drank Cyrodilic Brandy & Rayna asked for Velvet LeChance, an argonian made drink with a touch of deadly Nightshade in it. TssVar ordered Argonian Bloodwine and sent the bartender off to make their drinks.

Brii, Ashira, and Fahliil were at the end of their Elseweyr story when the waiter arrived with all their drinks. Everyone paused to enjoy their beverage and wet their throats. Ashira informed them of the mooncows they would have at their disposal. Everyone loved this idea, especially Dremora, who wanted to ride one into battle. They hadn't decided what to do with the airship yet, but all agreed it would come in handy.

"Anyways, this khajiit trader told us the daedric artifact we sought out was on an ancient Nordic island called – " Ashira was cut off by Dremora.

"Falskaar." Dremora told.

"You know of the place?" Ashira asked.

"Of course. I collect Daedric artifacts. I was just about to head there until our worlds decided to overlap. It won't be easy getting that artifact. It's called the Heart of the Gods, and it opens portals to other planes of realities. I myself haven't seen it since the Dawn of Oblivion 200 years ago; you mortals call it the 'Oblivion Crisis'." Dremora laughed.

"You were alive at the time of the Oblivion Crisis?" Ashira gaped.

"Alive? Ha! I led the first armies into Cyrodil and conquered Kvatch! Until that stupid 'Hero of Kvatch' showed up and closed the Oblivion Gate." Dremora frowned at the memory. "Anyways, supposedly there's a war going on between the local nords of Falskaar and a small army of bandits. Both are trying to obtain the Heart of the Gods. My plan was to let the Nords think I was fighting for their side, but really they would be just a means to an end to gain the artifact for myself." Dremora shrugged.

"So how do we get to Falskaar?" Ashira hung onto Dremora's every word. She loved a good story telling.

"No one knows." Dremora didn't seem worried. She could already see the wheels turning in the overly large kitty cat's brain.

"So what's the plan? What's our next move?" Brii asked, looking around.

"Looks like I'm going to Falskaar." Dremora chimed, hefting the Mace of Molag Bol over her shoulder, which gave off an eerily green glow and a sinister vibe.

"Don't we need to inform the pointy ears – I mean the elves of what's going on?" Rayna glanced nervously at Fahliil.

"Don't flatter yourselves, for we already know everything." Arcana's voice echoed throughout the dining room. A magical bubble appeared and an image of the 3 magical elves sparkled and shone in front of them.

"The snow elf – " Arcana began.

"Glacia." The snow elf quietly interrupted her.

"Glacia." Arcana hissed, "has a magical artifact that allows us to see anywhere in Tamriel and through my Thalmor power I am able to communicate with you." She arrogantly stated. Behind the 3 elves it looked like a tornado had swept through Glacia's tower. Books and baubles were scattered everywhere and there were cracks and shatters in the stone walls and furniture was overturned. It seemed the elves had most defiantly not been getting along and had probably fought each other with magic. The place might look wrecked but not a hair was out of place on the 3 ladies, not a speck of dirt marred their skin.

"We know of the Heart of the Gods and think you should proceed as planned. We will continue working on our...defenses." Raistla gave the other 2 elves a sidelong dirty glance. With a wave of her hand the bubble vanished right as the 3 elves began shrieking at each other and things began floating in the air.

"This one is quite glad that we are not there." Ashira looked relieved, reverting back to her khajiit accent.

"Argonian, why don't you accompany me?" Dremora asked the reptile. TssVar nodded her consent and went about packing for the journey. She rarely spoke except to her family or dark brotherhood members. Dremora wondered who else she should bring along for the journey. Defiantly not the imperial and certainty not the wood elf. The Nordic wolf expressed her desire to sit this adventure out. The redguard was too inexperienced. Dremora would be the muscle and the magic, the lizard was the silent secret weapon, what would complement their skills? Virtually nothing was known about the orc. The cat had bow range skills, which would come in handy she thought. The khajiit locked eyes with her and Dremora could tell the cat was thinking the same thing she was.

"This one will tag along on this adventure, yes?" Ashira decided for her to go along.

"Just so long as you are useful." Dremora said.

"As well as silent." TssVar stared at her. The reptilian's features were hard to read as anything but cold blooded killer, but that terrorized her enemies working to her advantage. Sithis did so love terrified victims sacrificed to him.

"This one is very useful." Ashira beamed, confident in her abilities. "This one might not be quite as invisible as you argonian, but none know I am there until they are blinded by the light of the sun." her long ears swiveled back and forth. Her sun bolts also paralyzed a victim, giving Ashira plenty of time to line up as many shots as she wanted.

That left Urda, Imperia, Rayna, Fahliil and Brii. TssVar's eyes narrowed as she realized they would all have to remain there in her hideout. They couldn't afford to shake up the world and alert any possible enemies of their whereabouts.

"My hatchlings have never been here, although my mate knows of this place." TssVar told Dremora. It was just upstream from where her and her mate, Derkeethus had met. She rescued him when he was trapped in Darkwater Pass, overrun with Falmor. He'd swam up stream all the way from the mining settlement of Darkwater Crossing, straight up to the thundering falls. He'd ventured inside an underground cavern, swimming directly inside, and had fallen into a pit he couldn't get out of. She'd fallen in love with him at that very moment she heard his voice thanking her for rescuing him. They'd made such a perfect team fighting against the Falmor. She usually preferred to travel alone, for most could not be as silent as she could be. But Derkeethus was quite silent, and used a bow, which complimented her silent dagger skills.

His green scales had shone in the moonlight when they'd emerged from the cavern. His voice poured over her like warm honey, and he'd noticed her amulet of Mara. TssVar had had trouble getting any of the very few male argonians to settle down with her. They only wanted a brief fling but nothing permanent, when she wasn't having to kill them that is. She'd had to take out one of her egg brothers for one of the dark brotherhood contracts. She'd hated to slay the handsome fellow, but her duty in life was to serve Sithis.

Derkeethus had asked her to be his mate and she'd agreed. They'd traveled all over as a fighting duo, silently adventuring throughout Skyrim. Her in her dark brotherhood armor and he in his matching armor, allowing him to sneak nearly as good as she. She'd adopted 2 argonian children since then and both were curious growing youngsters, and so remained at home with their father. She'd even taken in poor Aventus Arentino, promising to teach him the Dark Brotherhood ways when he was older. Falling in love was the only thing that had even come close to the ecstasy TssVar felt when doing Sithis' bidding.

"You're truly going to let 5 strange dragonborn stay in your secret hideaway?" Dremora raised her eyebrows. TssVar grinned a toothy grin.

"I have the best insurance policy." She turned to the remaining dragonborn. "My food and comforts are yours. Just remember me and mine are protected by Sithis should you try to steal from me." She spoke up to them. Every single being froze in the room in a dead hush, and Dremora knew TssVar wasn't fooling around. She sniffed the air and detected the slight stench of death. She could tell the wolf nord and khajiit could smell it too for they wrinkled their noses. TssVar closed her eyes and inhaled the sickening scent deeply as if it were a sweet perfume.

It was a reminder to them that she really did have Sithis backing her. Dremora knew Sithis would be watching their every move. She just didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. One never knew when dealing with Sithis.

TssVar turned and walked away, swirling her scaly tail behind her. She wasn't worried about the others wrecking her place. They would behave for fear of Sithis' wrath. Those who crossed his wrath always died. Always. Those poor, wretched souls were damned to serve Sithis in any way he saw fit.

Dremora watched TssVar pack for their journey. She noticed TssVar pick up Mehrunes Razor. It was an evil daedric dagger that instantly killed its victims, no matter where they were stabbed or what creature they were; it poisoned the blood, killing in seconds.

"Ah, my good lord Mehrunes Dagon's Razor, from the extinct Mythic Dawn cult. I wondered where it had gotten to. When I visited his shrine it wasn't there, he spoke of giving to a champion whose heart was as black as his own." Dremora came up behind TssVar, hoping to startle her.

"I can't be startled, and if I could, you would be dead already. This dagger is a favorite killing weapon of mine." TssVar caressed the blade lovingly. It glowed faintly red from the blood of her contracts that never completely washed off. "I used it to slay the real Emperor, and everyone aboard his ship. There must have been close to 50 people guarding his majesty."

"No wonder Mehrunes Dagon favors you." Dremora nodded her head at the lizard. She was defiantly a strange being, unlike any she'd ever met, even among her own demonic race.

"The funny thing was, his majesty requested I take out the person who ordered the contract out on him. I decided to grant his last request. After the 20,000 septim payment of course." TssVar grinned, her pointed teeth winking in the light.

"Did you? How ironic for him." Dremora laughed.

"This one is ready to go, yes?" Ashira slung her arms over both Dremora and TssVar. TssVar hissed and ducked, twisting her way out of the cat's embrace. Dremora yelled at her to get off and shoved the khajiit's arm off her. Ashira grinned; it seemed she got a kick out of being a pest. "Just out of curiosity, how many daedric artifacts do you have?" Ashira asked Dremora.

"Well, Azura has already favored her Star to a loyal dark elf, but I've collected Meridia's Dawnbreaker sword, Mephala informed me she gave her tainted Ebony Blade to the Listener" Dremora stared pointedly at TssVar.

"My mate Derkeethus possesses Boethiah's Ebony Mail. We sacrificed some poor fool for her in exchange for it. What a fun day that was!" TssVar grinned.

"The Mace of Molag Bol is my current weapon of choice, stealing the souls of my enemies," Dremora caressed the hilt strapped to her waist. "Clavicus Vile's Rueful Axe went to the Harbinger, which must be you, nord, since you have a favoring for war axes." Dremora turned to Brii.

"It's something I'm not proud of; I had to slay his dog Barbas. But I really craved that axe." She looked uncomfortable.

"I absolutely love the Sanguine Rose staff, for I get to fight alongside one of my brethren." Dremora sighed. "It's too bad I can't summon the dremora for nightly pleasures as well. The other dremora at Mehrunes Dagon's shrine won't fight me; they just let me right into the temple." She looked at Brii again. "Of course being Lord Hircine's favorite, you would have the Savior's hide. We've already seen Arcana carrying the Staff of Corruption, and I believe I overheard Imperia and Urda talking; Imperia has the Spellbreaker shield and Urda has the Volendrung war hammer. The Wabbajack is unaccounted for at the moment, and I'm sure we've all had our hands on the book of Oghma Infinium."

"This one had the Skeleton Key for a short time, but Nocturnal made me return it." The khajiit looked depressed at this thought.

"I also have the ring of Namira." TssVar spoke up.

"You mean you eat other people!?" Ashira stuck her rough tongue out in disgust.

"Death has such a pleasant taste." TssVar closed her eyes and smiled, remembering. The nord agreed there was something tasty about the heart of an enemy.

"You are both sick!" the khajiit threw her paws up.

"Now how in Oblivion do we get out of here?" Dremora asked TssVar. The 3 headed up to her bedroom, where a little sitting area with a huge map spread on it lay. A dark amethyst orb hovered above the map. TssVar touched it with a scaly fingertip, and the glitter within swirled round and round.

"Where do you wish to go?" she asked. "This will take you anywhere in Skyrim."

"We go to Riften, we can find out how to get to Falskaar from there." The khajiit informed them. A map of Skyrim appeared within the orb and Riften grew closer and closer. Ashira could not take her eyes from it, not even to see if the other two were just as transfixed as she was. Riften grew closer, clearer and Ashira could almost smell the local food vendors and hear the people chattering business. She looked up and she was suddenly there. TssVar grinned and said "Welcome to Riften, Queen of Thieves."

A Dark Beginning

They appeared in Riften, and Dremora and TssVar got to witness Ashira in her element. She stopped to talk to a muscle bound nord but he knew nothing of Falskaar. A thief was being chased through the city and darted past Ashira, guards heavy in pursuit. Ashira grabbed a support pole holding up a building, swung around it, and kicked a nearby cart full of vegetables, sending it rolling directly into the guard's path. They had no time to stop. They went crashing into it, shouting and clashing, the thief turned back and mouthed a quick 'thank you' at Ashira, and she winked back. She took care of her people.

TssVar wanted to stop at the Bee and Barb. It was run by some argonian friends of hers, and she loved sampling their drinks. They entered and were greeted immediately by a male argonian. He smiled warmly at TssVar, and offered drinks on the house. Behind the counter, his mate waved a friendly greeting at TssVar. Ashira stared wide eyed.

"I usually get the stink treatment when I come to this place. When I first started out in the Guild, they owed some money, and I was the one they sent to collect payment. I had to blackmail them since we Thieves don't kill." Ashira lowered her eyes. "It was nothing personal, but I had a job to do." They grabbed a table off by itself and waited for their drinks. They didn't have to wait long for TssVar's marsh friend came back right away with their order, claiming if there was anything they needed, to let him know. TssVar mentioned the island of Falskaar and he suggested talking to the local beggars.

The beggars were the eyes and ears of the Thieves Guild. It was always best to pay a beggar a septim and hear what he had to say then shove them away and ignore their cries, for you might end up being robbed in retaliation by the Thieves Guild. Beggars knew most of what went on in cities and made good sources of information, for who would pay attention to a dirty, homeless beggar?

They finished their drink and quickly left, TssVar nodding her thanks to the argonian owners. A beggar wouldn't be hard to find in Riften. They headed into the main market circle, and noticed a strange man babbling to anyone who approached him. Ashira strode forward, noticing he was new in town, for she knew all the beggars in Skyrim. He sloshed his drink and slurred like a mad man, and his stench was enough to keep anyone at bay. Ashira paid no attention to any of it, and acted as though he were a person of great importance. She handed him some gold coin for more drink and listened to what he had to say. She came back to Dremora and TssVar smiling, the old man heading into the Bee and Barb to spend his gold.

"There is a rumor of a cave near Dawnstar leading to ancient dwemer ruins that contains a portal leading to Falskaar." Ashira told them what she had learned. They headed outside to the Riften stables. Ashira swung up on her agile dappled gray bedecked in leather armor and unslung her crossbow. Ashira always rode with her crossbow out, and her mounts smooth gait complimented her archery skills. She took great delight in shooting anything she saw moving to improve her skill; be it deer, elk, rabbit or fox.

TssVar whispered a foreign language under her raspy breath and a nearby pool of water blackened and bubbled, thickening like oil. A figure rose up out of the black substance, in the shape of a horse. The slick, dark goo slid off the creature, sank back into the pool of water, and promptly vanished, leaving a horse darker than night, with demonic glowing red eyes and its breath puffed visibly into the air.

This was the infamous Shadowmere, steed of the Dark Brotherhood. She was an immortal horse, embowed with the soul of Sithis. She had been a gift from the Night Mother to an old vampiric Listener, Lucian Lechance. He'd passed it along to the Hero of Kvatch during the Oblivion Crisis, and she'd vanished since then. TssVar had been given Shadowmere when the Dark Brotherhood had nearly been wiped out, betrayed by one of their own, too greedy and stupid to be able to tell the difference between a male and a female horse. Astrid, the old leader of the brotherhood had been the tool in an age old ritual known as The Cleansing. A purge of the dark brotherhood, it was the only time a Dark Brotherhood member was allowed to murder another brother, orders directly from Sithis. TssVar became the Listener and new head of the Dark Brotherhood, bringing their guild back to their old roots of the 5 Tenants.

She swung up on Shadowmere, who reared up and struck the ground with her mighty hooves. She was an enormous war horse, and fought back even against dragons, providing distraction so TssVar could sneak up the dragons scaly hide and stab it in any of its various weak spots. Shadowmere stank of death and Ashira's horse reared up in a panic, snorting, backing away, clearly frightened of the other mount. Ashira was just getting it under control when Dremora summoned her demonic mount. It was as fiery as the pits of Oblivion, hot glowing lava veins running underneath its red hot skin, flaming mane and tail. Flames leaked through it's eyes and nostrils, and wherever its hooves struck, fire left in its wake. This was the infamous Blaze of Eventide. Ashira's horse screamed in fear and reared up, nearly unseating the khajiit.

"This is not going to work this one thinks." She sighed and swung off her horse. She led it over to the stables and left it there, paying the stable boy coin to look after it until she returned for it. She walked back to them and opened her paw, a summoning spell in it. "A little trick this one picked up while in The Void while hunting vampires." She spoke, and cast the purple orb upon the ground.

A horse whinnied and appeared before them in a flaming purple orb. He was skeletal and his bones were a magical purple, his mane and tail a strange violet flame. "He is called Arvak. He was a loyal horse for a soldier over in the Void and his owner wanted me to take him out of there." Ashira explained her reason for knowing how to summon a skeletal mount. She swung up on Arvak and the 3 were ready to head to Dawnstar.

Dawnstar had a sinister reputation, especially now that the Dark Brotherhoods new headquarters was located not too far from there. It was quite a ways from Riften, high up north in the freezing cold and snow. They rode day and night until the air grew blistering cold and green scenery changed to blankets of white snow assaulting them at every angle until they couldn't see in front of them even with a torch. Dremora's horse blazed a fiery trail after it wherever it galloped, striking sparks with its hooves. Arvak's purple flaming mane and tail could be seen for miles. Shadowmere and TssVar just blended into the night, unseen. Just outside of town, a caravan of khajiit traders camped, and Ashira just had to stop and trade with them.

TssVar and Shadowmere led the way, for it was like returning home to them. They rode through the town silently and everyone quickly got out of their way. Ashira didn't miss the feared looks they gave TssVar and her strange companions. This was her town, after all, and there wasn't a soul in Skyrim that didn't fear the Dark Brotherhood. They rode past the Mythic Dawn Museum, following the coast, at the water's edge.

"Whatever happened to that dark elf that ran the Mythic Dawn Museum?" Dremora casually asked.

"I sacrificed him to Mehrunes Dagon for the Razor." TssVar replied, not even looking in the house's direction.

"Brilliant!" Dremora clapped her hands. "Out of curiosity, what happened to the contents inside that house?" she cocked her head sideways, her pointed horns curving dangerously.

"You mean the Mythic Dawn robes and the 4 extremely rare books the Mythic Dawn Commentaries? They are now in my collection of souvenirs." TssVar spoke, making it quite clear with her tone that she intended to keep her souvenirs.

They rounded a bend in the coast and lost sight of the little town of Dawnstar. They soon began to detect a faint heartbeat that grew louder and steadier with each step. Shadowmere began plodding in time to the heartbeats, and TssVar's hooded head could be seen bobbing to it as well.

It was dark and terrifying to Ashira. It felt as if death itself were coming for her and the pounding heartbeats were her own. Outwardly she betrayed nothing, but for the first time in her life she felt true fear. She recognized it and controlled it, knowing that she could handle herself if need be, and trusting TssVar and Dremora to have her back and not let anything happen to her. She'd not trusted another living soul besides Inigo all her life. Trusting got you killed. Ashira had survived all odds by not trusting anyone.

To Dremora, the pounding was simply strange. She'd never felt anything like it before, but she could feel the immense power seeping through the ground even though they hadn't even reached their destination yet. It was true that Sithis had Dawnstar in his shadow, for the new Dark Brotherhood was closer than they thought. She was impressed with the sheer size of Sithis' power. There might as well have been a black smudge on the map.

A sinuous black door carved right into the wall mountain thrummed, it was the source of the heartbeat. They could actually feel the vibrations of the heartbeat. TssVar felt the heartbeat more vibrantly than her own. TssVar and Shadowmere just looked at each other. Only they knew. The heartbeat spread throughout their flesh, down to their bare bones, and crept into their souls. It was a feeling of coming home, of safety. Few dark brotherhood members ever felt safe, but the Sanctuary was one of those few places they could actually relax and be themselves.

TssVar approached the stone carved door, practically slithering in ecstasy. She caressed the carved skeletons as she would a lover and placed her hooded head against the door as if sharing a secret. Her long, scaly tail curled in anticipation.

"What...is the color...of night?" whispered the door. Its voice seeped into their souls and took hold of their hearts with iron grasps. TssVar seemed to be the only one enjoying the sensation, right along with Shadowmere.

"Sanguine...my brother." TssVar replied. The door slid aside and they stepped inside the secret Sanctuary of the Dark Brotherhood. They followed TssVar while Shadowmere remained outside, too large to fit through the door. They went in and emerged into an expansive room carved out of the surrounding stone. Off to the right a coffin sat upright, exposed to the world the rotting corpse of a screaming old woman. Candles on tall holders stood to either side of her, and she was propped up on an upraised slab of stone, almost like an altar. Flowers, gems, and body parts adorned the ground around her, the stone stained red with blood. She was attended by a jester who kept muttering to himself as he rubbed oils into the deceased body.

She was the most disgusting thing she'd ever saw, Ashira thought, then winced inwardly as she realized she'd probably offended somebody important. The reek of death permeated the air thicker than any graveyard. It mixed with the perfumed smell of the flowers and made a sickly sweet scent that hung in the air. The jester approached them merrily, greeting them and clapping his hands.

"Listener! So good to see you! Back to hear Mother's next words? Poor, poor Cicero will never hear Mother, but it is I who faithfully attends her...needs." He babbled.

"Everyone, meet the Night Mother." TssVar gestured to the corpse. "This fool is Cicero, Keeper of the Night Mother. Don't mind him, he's just crazy." The argonian threw her arm around the human. It was clear the two were good friends and that Cicero truly was insane.

"Needs? What sort of...needs?" Ashira gulped before she could slap a paw over her mouth.

"Oh! A Khajiit! Cicero is so happy to meet you! Cicero massages oils into Mother's body to preserve her, combs the bugs out of her hair, clear out any rotting from her insides, make sure her mummification goes well; did you know she murdered her 5 children to become the bride of Sithis? Only the most privileged Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary gets to house the Night Mother!" he shook her hand and would not let go.

"Don't be fooled, beneath that laughing lunatic is a highly trained genius of a killer for the dark brotherhood. He came the closest anyone's ever tried to kill me before fleeing here, where Sithis pardoned him and settled our new Sanctuary here." TssVar told Ashira. Ashira jerked her paw from Cicero's. Everyone knew it was near impossible to take out a dark brotherhood member, let alone the all-powerful Listener.

TssVar stepped up inside the coffin and embraced the Night Mother. The doors swung shut of their own accord.

"She did that the first time she heard the Night Mother spoke, and she's done it ever since. Prefers it that way." Cicero almost looked green with jealousy.

"So she's the only one who can hear the Night Mother?" Ashira asked.

"So privileged! So privileged is the Listener, Cicero thought it would be him, for have I not cared for her all these years? Bathed her, moved her from Sanctuary to Sanctuary for years?" Cicero chattered away.

TssVar remembered the first time she'd embraced the Night Mother. She'd been snooping around for Astrid, spying on Cicero, committing a sacrilegious act by defiling the Night Mother herself by hiding in her coffin. TssVar had expected to be scared or at the very least, grossed out hiding inside a coffin with a dead body. Instead she'd been awed, humbled and comforted. She felt completely at ease, the smell of the Night Mother's slowly decaying body filled her nostrils and took root in her brain. The Night Mother's eyes had glowed red, filling the inner coffin with a reddish light, and she realized she was face to face with the Night Mother. She'd heard the Night Mother's caressing voice enter her mind, as clear as someone speaking aloud. The Night Mother had praised her, and had selected her to be her Listener.

"What did she say?" Ashira asked as TssVar stepped out of the coffin.

"It just so happens that my next contract is the leader of the bandits at that cave we are currently headed to." She smiled cheerily. She wouldn't have to backtrack for a contract.

Off to the right was a tiny garden and they descended downstairs to the main common room where everyone gathered. A huge circular stained glass window painted with the symbol of Sithis, a skeletal grotesque figure, torturing the souls of men and women. A huge dining table was laden with every kind of food imaginable. The dark brotherhood ate well. Before TssVar had come along they'd barely gotten by on scraps. She was in charge now and she made sure her organization had the best money could buy. The Dark Brotherhood wasn't just a bunch of murderous, inhuman bastards, they truly enjoyed killing, without remorse or regret and were good at it, weaving intricate tales of destruction in their paths.

A Redguard in a red Alik'r hood (usually they were blue) sat at the table cutting an apple with is Scimitar sword. He hailed the Listener and pointed out the new members he'd just recruited for their dark group. They were promising murderers he assured her. She passed one of them and the young lad stammered the proper words when addressing the Listener. She placed her hand on his forehead, said nothing and moved on. He seemed overjoyed that the Listener had actually touched him and ran over to his female companion in training to gloat.

They passed through a torture dungeon where 4 people were strung up, 2 men and 2 women. They'd been shackled by their arms to the wall, executioner cloths over their heads. They'd been stripped of their clothes and possessions. Each begged and pleaded for their lives. TssVar walked by as if they didn't exist. They continued down the hallway where they could hear the chanting of a little girl's voice eerily echoing.

"Hail, Sithis, for I am with thee. Oh sweet Mother lead me to Dark Sanctuary. I will follow his order with no questions and proceed without fail, for Sithis is who I cherish and hail. Sweet, sweet Mother tell me who is next; send the betrayed to seek further judgment from Sithis. We are the Listener's Black Hand, the children of dark. By Sithis name we leave his mark. Loved by Mother, she fixes the broken and speaks to the unspoken. We are the Dark Brotherhood." A small girl prayed in front of an altar holding a creed of the 5 Tenants.

"A child?!" Ashira gasped. The girl burst into laughter.

"Child? I see I have fooled another one, Listener. I am much older than you; over 300 years ago I was turned vampire when I was a little girl. I am called Babette." She smirked. Vampire children were unheard of. It was an unspoken law not to turn children into vampires. Babette was ruthless as she was adorable, and had led many victims to their demise. They chatted for a minute, and TssVar continued down the hallway and entered a vast bedroom chamber. She caressed her Blade of Woe, a legendary dark brotherhood dagger and slid it into the sheath on her chest. She grabbed two magical Scimitars: Soulrender glowed purple, and Bloodscythe was red. She strapped them to her back down the length of her spine. She was a fan of double wielding blades, and you could never have enough blades. TssVar continued her rounds, coming back out into the dining area. She ordered Nazir the redguard to train the new recruits, and to choose more, lots more. She told him to send word and see if there were any other Sanctuaries left alive in Tamriel. They stood near the huge stain glassed window. TssVar turned to her companions.

"We'll not be leaving the same way we entered." TssVar pulled a hidden latch and the huge stained glass window was actually a door which swung open a crack and TssVar slid through, motioning the others to follow her. It led to a tiny closet of a room, with a ladder leading straight up. She popped open the lid from the tunnel and jumped up out into the snow. Ashira looked around and found that they were right behind the khajiit caravan just outside of town. The Dark Sanctuary was beneath the very town of Dawnstar! TssVar slid the lid back into place and whistled for Shadowmere. The 3 mounted and continued on to the nearby cave.

There was a dead hush when they arrived at the caves entrance. Ashira dismounted and Arvak disappeared right away. Dremora banished her mount and Shadowmere would wait for their return and graze. A bandit was asleep sitting in a chair next to the entrance. TssVar snuck up behind him and slit his throat as she watched his snores turn into gurgles as blood bubbled out of his larynx and down his chest. "You know, sometimes right before a kill, Sithis speaks to me. He whispers in my ear and fills my heart with the joy of suffering and death!" The others just stared at TssVar like she'd lost her head.

"I will never understand you, argonian." Ashira shook her head.

"Few do." TssVar smiled. The 3 entered the dark cavern and tiptoed around, searching for enemies.

2 bandits were talking and warming their hands by a fire. TssVar motioned for the others to wait while she crept ahead. She slinked up behind one of them making absolutely no sound. Not even the bandit talking to his buddy directly in front of her saw her, she was that good. The shadows seemed to cling to her, even in the firelight. She placed her hand over one bandits mouth at the exact same time her other hand slit his throat with Mehrunes Razor. The poor fellow was dead before he even knew it. His blood spurted all over his companion who was in shock and unable to move. TssVar grabbed his furred cloak, jerking him forward and driving her dagger up through his chin and into his brain, grinning like a fiend the entire time. She always smiled when she killed. She let his body slump to the floor before pocketing their coins. TssVar was truly the best at killing.

They continued on, sneaking as they went, disposing bandits along their way. They eventually reached the bandit leader and TssVar charged him head on, wielding her double Schimiters. She was fast like a whirlwind, her blades singing through the air, spattering the air with blood. The leader had 2 body guards and Ashira stunned one with a blinding arrow. Dremora used everyone's hesitation and charged the other bodyguard, ignoring the stinging pain in her eyes. Those sun arrows really were as bright as the sun to her eyes! She bashed his helmet with the Mace of Molag Bal and drained his life's energy with a spell in her other hand. He aged as he grew, withering to an old man before her very eyes. His sword slashes at her grew slower and weaker, his heartbeat quickened, his breath gasping. She continued stealing his life through red orbs feeding her own power without mercy. His heart burst and gave out as he clutched his chest in terror. Not many who danced with daedra won. He collapsed to the ground, eyes sunken in, mouth gaping open in a silent scream forever. It was a horrible way to die.

Ashira had taken out the other bodyguard and TssVar was finishing off the leader. She knocked his feet out from under him and booted him to his knees with her foot. She placed her swords on either side of his neck, grinning with pleasure the entire time. One clean sweep and he was beheaded, his head bouncing on the floor, the helmet rolling away from it, the body squirting TssVar in a blood bath, the argonian reveling in the sensation. Dremora had only seen such savagery in her race, not another.

Ashira discovered a chain to be pulled, sliding a secret door open in the wall. They crawled through a dug out tunnel that lead to some ancient dwemer ruins, just like the beggar had said! They followed it deeper down; fighting blind Falmor and dwemer robots the deeper they went. They came to a vast room and accidentally awakened the 2 Dwarven Centurion and were battling them when Ashira touched a lever and bars slid back, revealing a portal door, leading to Falskarr they hoped. Dremora yelled at them to hurry up and dashed through. TssVar slashed the legs of one, causing it to fall over in malfunction and she followed Dremora. Ashira was last, having pickpocket the giant robots for gems and coin, and coincidentally picked up the centurion core which powered the robot, effectively shutting it down. She ran after the others through the light blue shimmering portal into the unknown.

Heart of the Gods

They emerged out into rubble and ruins. It still appeared that they were in dwemer ruins, and a guard dressed in green burst through 2 doors. "There are no guards in all of Skyrim that dress in that shade of green. I would know." Ashira commented. Ashira's idea of fun was to purposefully get busted by the local guards, get tossed in prison, and sneak out undetected. She'd visited every prison in Skyrim.

"Well I'll be! Tis said when the earth shook in Amber Creek that the Traveler would arrive! Looks like 3 travelers!" He beckoned to them. They emerged through a cave entrance out into the bright sunshine. The land looked to be in the peak of autumn, the trees in an array of splendid hues, flashy reds, and bright yellow, burnt orange littering the ground. "I must take you to Jarl Agnar of Amber Creek. Tis not far from here." He informed them in his strange accent. If these people were Nordic, then they were a strange sort of Nord indeed. He opened a set of enormous gates entering the town of Amber Creek. It looked as though some of the town had just been ravished and burned to the ground. Some wounded khajiit traders sat on the side of the grass and Ashira drifted off towards them to gain information. The place was a spread out town, complete with a large inn, orc stronghold, blacksmith, several traders with separate buildings, even a chapel for local worship with a hall for the deceased. A few homes lingered, but most people lived above their shops. Most of the people there sported amber colored eyes, after the amber mines their town was named after. The Jarl's Hall was off to itself, a long stairway leading up to the front doors swathed in green cloth.

"I should go in front." Dremora stated.

"Fine by me. I prefer to remain hidden in the shadows." TssVar bowed her head. Ashira came up behind them.

"They were attacked by an unusually large number of bandits, looking for a daedric artifact." Ashira told them what she had heard. It was nothing they didn't already know. They entered the jarl's hall; it was poor and simple, with only a couple of servants milling about. The guard leaned down and whispered in the Jarl's ear. He was dressed in simple furs, tattoos swirling around his bare torso, his beaded beard in knots.

"Jarl Agnar, it has come to the dragonborn attention that the daedric artifact known as the Heart of the Gods is hidden on this island somewhere. I have been sent here with my associates to help retrieve it." Dremora told him.

"Ah, this is good, I think." The Jarl beamed at them. "First we must open trade with Skyrim, the trade route at the coast has been blocked for some reason, and we cannot survive without supplies. We must rebuild after the attack." He sent them all the way across the island to the south, to the Falskaar docks. There they discovered the captain Wulf, the lighthouse keeper abed with an injury whilst out gathering Svengarberries for his wife Freya for their anniversary. Of course the dragonborn helped out so she could make her rare pie, and Ashira made them all stay and sample it, begging the recipe from the woman. Wulf promised them a cheap flat out rate of 100 septims any time they wanted to travel to and back from Skyrim, his dock was conveniently located at Dawnstar.

On their way back they discovered some giant mudcrabs on a beach that had been altered to unusual size by the magic spreading out into the island from the Heart of the Gods. They returned to Amber Creek and Jarl Agnar had them go and fetch his house carls, 2 brothers who lived by the river in a cabin. Then they had to journey to Bailun Priory and collect Brother Thorlogh. They all sat down to a meager feast to discuss their next move. Brother Thorlogh informed them the Heart of the Gods was kept in the Heart Chamber, on the top of Mt. Kaltrom; in Vizemundsted, the tallest peak in Falskaar. It had used to be a library. They had to collect 5 keys to get in. Their sworn enemy and leader of the bandits was Yngvarr. He had 2 keys, and they had a key and were trying to gain the others.

They explored Hjalmor armory in search of bandits and discovered that Yngvarr and his army of men would be moving on another town called Borvald. Jarl Agnar was frantic with worry for Jarl Valfred and the key he possessed. They traveled immediately to the other end of the island, towards the east, hoping they would beat the bandits in time. Borvald was a well defense placed town, high up on a plateau, unobtainable except by the only road that was patrolled by Borvald guards. There were no guards this time and they were greeted by a surly looking fellow at the gates. They asked to speak with Jarl Valfred about an upcoming bandit attack, and they were led through the streets. The town was near deserted, worn and old, used looking. The wood was shabby, the cloth threadbare. The marketplace was strangely empty, free of the usual hubbub and banter.

In the middle of meeting with Jarl Valfred, the bandits struck. Hundreds of cutthroats swarmed everywhere, burning buildings with their torches, swords brandished high. The smell of smoke and ash drifted under the doors and carried the coppery scent of blood and death. TssVar would have liked to linger and savor the scent but was urged by the others to rush to safety. They went through a secret tunnel in the walls of the palace, and exited out on top of a ridiculously high waterfall. Jarl Valfred ushered them to jump, saying he would hold the bandits back to allow their escape. He grabbed a chain from around his neck and thrust it into Dremora's hands. "Here. This is what he's after. Take it back to Jarl Agnar, it's the Key of Shelter." Before any of them could say a word, he turned and rushed back into the palace.

Ashira eyed the water pool far below them. It was several dragon lengths down. If there wasn't a pool of water below them, they probably wouldn't have survived. Even Dremora paused and took a breath in at the height. TssVar grinned with pleasure, her kind loved the water. She took off at a dead run and dived head first, straight as an arrow and disappeared into the water with barely a ripple. "Damn lizard." Dremora muttered to herself, and cannonballed into the cascading water. Ashira shuddered, she wasn't quite as fond as water, being a feline. Sighing, she dove quickly, resolving to get it over with, exiting the water, shaking water droplets from her whiskers. TssVar still hadn't emerged yet, and Dremora had used a heating spell to dry herself, much to Ashira's annoyance at still being dripping wet. TssVar finally broke the surface, and left the water as if she were one with it, it turned out her shadowscale armor was made of actual argonian shadowscales, water repellant among other things.

They made the journey back to Amber Creek and told Jarl Agnar the news. Once again they sat at the measly table of hard bread and stale ale and discussed their next move. Ashira wanted to know how Falskaar came to be in possession of the Heart of the Gods. Brother Thorlogh said that once upon a time Falskaar was a dyeing land, cold, inhospitable. Ahkrinviing, a great dragon gave his heart to a brave nord warrior called Olav to make the lower half of the island Falskaar warmer, enabling them to grow crops and flourish.

Jarl Agnar bade his wife, Jalmas to come forward and hand over her most prized necklace. She reluctantly handed it over, a confused look on her face. He fiddled with it for a moment, and slid back a piece, revealing a key hidden. So they had 2 keys, Shelter and Strength. Yngvarr had 2, the keys of Leadership and Wealth. There was one left, the key of Wisdom, which was located at Hjorgunnar Manor guarded by court wizards.

They sent the dragonborn to retrieve the last key. It was easy enough of course, and didn't take more than a better part of a day. On the return trip it seemed Yngvarr had anticipated the dragonborn move to retrieve the other key and was moving to attack Amber Creek in their absence. They hurried their pace and took a shortcut in the woods to cut the bandits off. They got lucky and blocked most of them from the defenseless town that had only just begun to rebuild. With most of the men defeated, they rushed back into Amber Creek to find Jarl Agnar and his 2 house carls duking it out with Yngvarr.

"If you really have the blood of a warrior, meet me at the Heart Chamber. We'll settle things there." He panted, and ran off into the darkness. Dremora offered to run him down, Ashira even noticed TssVar eyeing the darkness like she could slip away and slit his throat and be done with it before anyone noticed a thing. They decided to take Yngvarr up on his offer and confront him, take his keys, and activate the Heart of the Gods themselves.


End file.
